French trial over allegations of children forced into prostitution

Seven defendants are standing trial in France for allegedly forcing girls between the ages of 13 and 15 into prostitution.

They are accused of serious pimping offences in the trial that opened on Monday at the juvenile court in Pontoise near Paris.

Three men and one woman are said to have been minors themselves at the time of the offences, while three defendants were already adults, according to the public prosecutor's office.

The trial centres on offences committed between October 2020 and May 2022 involving a total of four underage victims.

A report on France Info said some of the girls were living in a home. One of them was allegedly forced to perform around 40 sexual acts within a month. According to the broadcaster, the abuse took place in hotels and cars.

One of the victims' lawyers, Marion Ménage, said the acts have left deep scars on some of the girls.

She told France Info that one of the victims refuses to speak to a psychologist because she absolutely does not want to talk about what happened. "One is only able to say, 'I am dead inside, they killed me,'" she said.

The trial is scheduled to last until September 26.