Facing the school with its responsibilities: this is the objective of the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (Igésr), called to investigate at the Ecole normale supérieure (ENS) of Lyon in March, after a wave of testimonies from students claiming to be victims of sexual assault and rape on campus and in university residences. Only a summary of the report was published by the Ministry of Higher Education on Wednesday, October 27, which sets out the main findings and recommendations of the inspectors.
In this temple of fundamental and experimental sciences as much as letters and human sciences, the mission has reconstructed an anonymized list of 27 situations of gender-based and sexual violence, the first of which dates back to 2017 and where all the victims are students, with the exception of of a case. More specifically, nine situations would fall under the classification of rape. “Half of the people involved are students and for the other half, they are five teachers (ENS or outside ENS), five other staff from the ENS, four external people at the ENS de Lyon or not identified “, details the summary of the report.
The school administration was only informed of fifteen of these 27 situations and “Out of the fourteen situations dealt with by the Presidency, only one gave rise to a disciplinary procedure, notes the Igésr. All the other situations have remained without a formal decision from the ENS allowing the file to be closed or are declared to be still “under investigation”. “
“Little eagerness to act”
The mission considers that the presidency of ENS Lyon did not “Not sufficiently taken into account the problem of sexual and gender-based violence within the school”, showing “Lack of consistency in the treatment of situations” and protester “Little eagerness to act”. As a result “A feeling of uncertainty, fear and mistrust which settled in the presumed victims and maintained a deleterious social climate”. In 2017, however, the ENS had implemented a support policy for presumed victims. But this will did not resist the tensions and the “Divestment of several players from the systems that had been developed”, until the resignation, in 2019, of the “equality referents” of the school.
Even today, the organization of the reporting, listening, support and action system presented during the health, safety and working conditions committee (CHSCT) of April 9 remains “Perfectible” in the eyes of the inspectors general. In their recommendations, they recommend to better specify the different stages of treatment of a situation and to clearly establish the methods of selection and the role of the participants for each level of intervention. As for the president of the school, Jean-François Pinton, he sees himself staring “Annual objectives” and the signature of a ” framework agreement ” with the judicial authorities to follow the proceedings in progress.
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