The report of the independent commission of inquiry into the violence committed at Notre-Dame de Bétharram was made public on Saturday June 20. “We are dealing with a real systemic perversion”, which affected several hundred children between the 1950s and 1990s in several establishments of the congregation, affirms in our columns the president of the commission Jean-Pierre Massias. With silence as its foundation. More precisely, speech prevented, devalued or made inaudible.
Children talk, but who listens?
Etymologically, the child is “the one who does not speak”. A boon for fans of perpetuating the devastating culture of silence. Many child victims defy this ban and speak out. It is easy to imagine what strength is needed for a person dependent psychologically and materially on their environment, family or institutional, to denounce a flaw or abuse. Are they listened to at the height of their courage?
Since the Outreau affair in the early 2000s, which led to a decline in the consideration of their words, progress has been made. The judge’s work, which consists of characterizing criminal offenses and comparing the statements of victims and alleged attackers with material evidence, cannot be carried out without an impeccable collection of their testimony.
It’s time for society to react
If they exist, false accusations are exceptional. And these should be compared to three quarters of complaints for sexual violence against minors dismissed.
Much remains to be done, if we consider the impunity with which the alleged attackers have perpetrated their crimes in recent cases of child abuse, in Betharram, in after-school activities or in the context of the death of young Lyhanna. These are not news items. These are scandals that call for a reaction from the whole of society.
