76

Is there a link between abuse and vulnerability, and if so, what form does it take? How can a sociolegal approach to vulnerability shed light on instances of abuse and allow us to better understand them? In France, these questions have been debated through a consensual approach meant to create a shared vocabulary for abuse, driven by the Commission nationale de lutte contre la maltraitance et de promotion de la bientraitance (National Committee against Abuse and for Welfare) between 2019 and 2021. This vocabulary, containing a definition of abuse, a related lexicon, and an identification of potential abusive situations, is used for both individual causes (such as age or disability) and contextual causes (such as an unbalanced relationship or a violent environment) for vulnerability. This reflection leads to a major paradigm shift, as we now talk about “people in vulnerable situations” and not “vulnerable people”. Thus, this shared vocabulary underlines some reciprocity between abuse and vulnerability. While vulnerability appears to increase the risk of abuse, this risk in turn can be considered as creating vulnerability. Last, considering the complex link between the two phenomena leads to a reflection on the public policy preventing and fighting abuse as one that is cross-sectional and systemic: It simultaneously protects, fixes, prevents, includes, and involves.