Andorra Sees 50% Rise in Child Abuse Interventions to 36 in 2025

Andorra's Childhood and Adolescence Department recorded 36 activations of the immediate action protocol (PAI) in 2025, mainly for sexual abuse cases, surpassing the 24 from 2024 and 14 in 2023.

The Ministry of Social Affairs department intervened in these cases following Batllia requests for forensic psychologist assessments after police responded to reports of suspected sexual abuse or acute physical mistreatment. Police track the full total of PAI activations. Of the 36, 28 involved sexual abuse—up from 19 the prior year—while eight related to physical mistreatment, compared to five previously. Seventeen cases occurred in family settings, with 19 outside. Director Laura Mas noted that sexual assaults frequently take place intrafamilially, often requiring a prior "environment of trust." Most victims were 17-year-olds, though interventions spanned ages 11 to 18. Mas highlighted challenges in detecting abuse among younger children, who may struggle to describe incidents or report them independently. A complaint at age 16, for example, could stem from abuse years earlier, such as at age seven, when the victim felt unready to speak.

Officials attribute the increase to greater public awareness through protocol promotion and training, resulting in more reports. "We view this positively because what matters is that people report these incidents," Mas told Altaveu. The figures surfaced during Andorra's UN presentation of its first report on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, though without full context at the time.

Separately, families have reported mistreatment of children at school canteens managed by IAUSA, a public company under the Alt Urgell County Council. Complaints include a five-year-old allegedly grabbed by the arm, moved across the dining hall, and forced to eat alone; a child pulled by the ears for refusing to eat and sent to another table; and an eight-year-old slapped by a monitor. In the slapping incident, the family filed a criminal complaint against the monitor, IAUSA's technical head, the education inspector, and the school director. Sources indicate the monitor was initially removed as a precautionary measure but later reinstated after the case was archived in the preliminary phase without formal investigation or evidence gathering.

Legal experts consulted by Bon Dia described the archiving as inconsistent, arguing that precautionary steps imply initial evidence of plausibility and risk, warranting further inquiry absent new objective facts. They stressed that child protection prioritizes the child's best interests over "in dubio pro reo," per the 2021 Organic Law on Child Protection (Lopivi). Bon Dia questions whether IAUSA has a formal violence prevention protocol tailored to canteens, designates a child protection coordinator, provides annual staff training, promptly notified police or prosecutors of potential offenses, or ensured forensically sound child interviews to avoid testimony contamination. County Council officials had not responded to these inquiries at the time of reporting.