Médiatisation, dénonciation publique et prémices de l’indignation collective contre les violences sexuelles dans les années 1970 en France

Abstract

This paper deals with the emergence of the violence against minors public denunciation in France by analyzing the press coverage for Leïla Sebbar’s essay entitled “We kill the little girls an investigation into mistreatment, abuse, murders, incest, rapes against minor girls under fifteen years old, from 1967 to 1977 in France” by (Stock, 1978). The analysis of 21 papers reveals various lexical fields mobilized by journalists to build a public denunciation. By combining a variety of lexical fields, recalling facts and presenting evidence, they lay the foundations for a collective indignation in the face of what minors suffer in terms of physical, sexual, incestual and psychological violence. In particular, the arguments developed by women's rights defenders and those who condemn patriarchy and criticize the established social order make it possible to identify the choices made by journalists and authors of the aforementioned papers. They allow further to qualify and nuance the positions taken by the editorial teams according to their nature.