Less than a week after seeing its historic leaders leave the foundation, the Refuge finds itself in the hands of justice. According to Mediapart, the Montpellier public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation after being warned of several problematic testimonies relating to acts of sexual abuse and a case of rape within the association itself, which houses homosexual people rejected by their families .
According to information from Mediapart, the prosecution received several reports on February 15, three days before the publication of a vitriolic audit report written by the independent firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which pointed to the erratic management of the structure. “They were sent by the general secretary of the Refuge and come from a note from BCG”, Mediapart thus reports. BCG’s investigations lasted for a month, from January 18 to February 18. The American cabinet, which learned of more than 1,400 testimonies and 150 interviews, revealed that“A certain number of serious facts were brought to the attention of his team who invited the persons concerned to seize the judicial authorities in particular”.
A report of “rape”
Among the reports identified in the audit and communicated to the prosecutor, that of a person formerly taken in by the association, who was allegedly raped in his room by someone not part of the Refuge. The audit note also indicates that the victim would have been encouraged to file a complaint by certain volunteers of the association, without the latter not reporting the facts themselves.
The Montpellier prosecutor’s office was also seized to investigate “The sending of intimate photographs imputed to a director of the foundation, without further details”. According to Mediapart, it would be a “Exchange of sexual SMS between a young person and Nicolas Noguier”, one of the two former directors of the foundation, who would have attracted the attention of the audit firm. In its previous survey published at the end of 2020, Mediapart pointed out that the same Nicolas Noguier had already received a reminder to the law after a complaint filed in 2007 for having had “Exchanges of a sexual nature” inappropriate with an individual. According to several testimonies from former employees, Nicolas Noguier was called «papa» by young people and would have frequently given “cuddles” and “Hugs”. His companion and former director general Frédéric Gal is questioned by several testimonies for his behavior judged “Problematic”, that some called “sexual harassment”.
In addition to these acts of sexual violence, the audit document, 38 pages long, pointed to “Structural dysfunctions […] imposing a strong and urgent reaction ”. He curls in particular the “Totally artisanal operation” of the association, which says it has supported more than 8,000 young people and accommodated more than 2,000 since its creation in 2003. Following the publication of the Mediapart survey in December, Nicolas Noguier had denied any major dysfunction.
“A climate of mistrust and unease at work”
In January, Release had collected several testimonies from people who used the services of the association. “You had to live for the association, I was under pressure and I received around a hundred emails a day with the obligation to respond within 48 hours. Everything was done backwards at that time and without procedure ”, recounted in particular Romain Ceccarini, now employed within the French Union of holiday centers.
The audit also noted “A climate of mistrust and uneasiness at work for a significant part of the players” of the association: 52% of employees questioned “Feel that their workload is not sustainable” and 60% “Do not say they are happy at work”. He also criticizes the association’s communication: more than a quarter of the young people questioned “Consider that their consent is not systematically requested to use their image on social networks in particular”. He also criticizes the association’s communication: more than a quarter of the young people questioned “Consider that their consent is not systematically requested to use their image on social networks in particular”.
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