She has just completed two hours of videoconferencing and has studied her daughter's math problem. Confined to her Miami home during the Covid-19 epidemic, Sarah Abitbol has been able to take stock in recent weeks after a start to the year when her book “Un si long silence” (Plon) highlighted the rapes whose she accuses her ex-coach and the scandal of sexual violence in sport.
The former skater tells us about her desire to get involved with the youngest, her desire to see the law on sexual crimes evolve and her relationship with the French Federation of Ice Sports (FFSG).
Four months ago, you said you were very tired when you finished promoting your book. How do you feel today ?
SARAH ABITBOL. I rested a lot, so I'm getting better over there. But I feel that I am accusing the aftermath of this media whirlwind. I went from everything to nothing. I need to be in between. I also lost my dad a week before the book came out. I had time to show him the report devoted to me in L'Obs, he clenched his fist and raised his thumb in the air to give me strength. I wish he was with me when I finally dared to speak. I also remained almost two months without support. There, I will resume the sessions with my psychologist to manage this whole episode. I continue to take tablets, anxiolytics. I want to leave this behind, stop taking the medicine.
PODCAST. Sexual violence in sport: why Sarah Abitbol breaks the silence
Do you always have people who contact you to tell you about their experiences?
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Yes, I receive thousands of messages on Messenger. Victims, but also simply people who thank me for speaking and tell me that they will be very careful in the education of their children. I make personalized responses to each. Someone contacted me saying, "A loved one has suffered the same thing as you, how can I help them?" I try to direct him towards associations, psychologists. I give time, while trying to protect myself psychologically.
The former president of the French Federation (FFSG), Didier Gailhaguet, requests 300,000 euros in compensation from the Ministry of Sports for having forced him to resign because of the scandal. What do you think of this request?
I find it shameful and indecent. It shows his oversized ego and the character he is. He was the patron for twenty years (Editor's note: 1998-2004 and 2007-2020) of this federation where the omerta reigned. And there he resigns and comes to ask for money. Besides that, I heard nothing from him. And I know that this is also the case for other victims.
Have you had discussions with the new president of the FFSG, Nathalie Péchalat?
No. I know that I am not the only victim in this case. We didn't get a quick note, just something to say that we are being thought of or to ask for our news… Afterwards, maybe she will do it later, she must have a lot to to do in this federation. Nathalie can do a very good job, she is a former high-level sportswoman very intelligent and very hardworking. I just think she's going to have to really clean up the federation in depth.
That is to say ?
I don't want to give names, but some people still in place are too connected to what happened there. Spending so much time in this context is like brainwashing. You have to regenerate the structure, bring new blood. Someone like Philippe Candeloro could be used to work on the minds of athletes, for example. We must think of the young people and the next generation of this federation, beyond the deadline of the Winter Olympics of 2022.
Are you afraid that the economic problems caused by the coronavirus crisis will put sexual violence in sport in the background?
We can manage both head on, I think. The FFSG signed a partnership in May with the association Colosse aux pieds d'Argile, that's a very good thing. Yes, the federations will suffer from these economic problems, the athletes will suffer from this downtime in their training, but I think that these files are not incompatible. We'll have to take care of both, that's all.
the FFSG and the association Colosse aux Pieds d'Argile signed a partnership agreement. Objective: Train and sensitize all actors in ice sports to fight against sexual violence. pic.twitter.com/SZkkZRu5hk
- FFSG (@ffsportsdeglace) May 14, 2020Personally, how do you plan to invest?
At the beginning, I wanted to set up my own structure, but it will be easier to start with an association that exists than to go to my corner. I am in discussion with two structures on the projects that we could set up, in France and abroad. I want to share my experience with children. Besides that, I'm also working on an ice show that we can show in France at the end of 2021. There will be a section on sexual violence and rebirth after this ordeal.
The facts of which you accuse your ex-trainer Gilles Beyer are prescribed. When promoting the book, you explained that you wanted the law to evolve…
It's always like that. Women, like Andréa Bescond, Flavie Flament, Mie Mohiyama, Nadège Beausson-Diagne or me, want this to change and we will fight. We were interviewed by MP Alexandra Louis in April as part of the mission to assess the law of August 3, 2018 (Editor's note: which extends the prescription from 20 to 30 years for sexual crimes committed against minors) . I wish the imprescriptibility. My attacker is walking in nature, he can start again. We are told, it is "word for word" and that the facts are too old. Me, I buried everything until 2003-2004, so it already makes me waste years at the level of the law. When several women testify against an attacker, he must end up in prison. It is up to them to be punished, not to us.
