ASE Shelters: The Republic’s Children Left at the Mercy of Pimps

What is happening in some Child Welfare Agency shelters is not a mere dysfunction. It is a moral collapse. Young girls placed in state care—who are supposed to be protected by the state—are being recruited by pimps right outside the gates of their shelters. In France. In 2025.

According to the recent parliamentary commission of inquiry on children in foster care, 15,000 minors are victims of prostitution in France, the majority of whom are children in the care of the Child Welfare Services (ASE). The Ministry of Justice itself acknowledges a critical situation and refers to a failure. Fifteen thousand children. Fifteen thousand. That number should be enough to bring down heads. But it brings down none. Franceinfo

The presidents of the departments of Essonne, Yvelines, and Bouches-du-Rhône are facing lawsuits for negligence. Families accuse them of allowing their daughters, placed in foster care, to become targets of pimps. Very young girls are picked up outside their foster homes by pimps’ cars as soon as night falls. France Bleu

In 2024, among the 91 minors residing in Seine-Saint-Denis reported to the District Attorney’s Office as victims of pimping or suspected prostitution, 69 were already receiving educational assistance—that is, 76%. Three out of four child prostitutes were already known to the ASE. Already in the system. Already under its “protection.” Let’s stop the violence

Children’s homes are inspected every five years by the departments—the very same ones that fund them. A particularly alarming trend is the increasing reliance on private, for-profit organizations and temporary staff. Traumatized children are entrusted to strangers recruited by agencies, while those in charge turn a blind eye. Franceinfo

When the state becomes the pimp of its own children through organized neglect, it is no longer a scandal. It is a crime of the state.