"La Familia grande": a title in Italian, but 204 pages of a testimony that could not be clearer and unfiltered, which brought the painful subject of incest out of the private sphere where it usually hides, suffocating the victims and protecting their torturers.
This shocking book, published at Seuil at the beginning of January, and already printed in 305,000 copies, is that of Camille Kouchner, a 45-year-old lawyer, the daughter of the former minister Bernard Kouchner and Evelyne Pisier, today deceased, who accuses her stepfather Olivier Duhamel of having abused his twin brother when he was 14 years old.
The facts - which the renowned political scientist did not formally dispute - would have occurred in the late 1980s.
In their wake, on social networks, anonymous testimonies have been pouring in since this weekend, under the keyword #Metooinceste.
“I was between 11 and 14 years old.
He was my brother.
"" I was 13, he was 26. He was my uncle.
"" It was my grandfather.
I was still old enough to take a nap after lunch.
He was taking a nap too.
"
I was 5.
He was a 39-year-old cousin.
32 years of #AmnesieTraumatique #metooinceste #StopPrescription pic.twitter.com/P8inCilpQ1
- Mié Kohiyama (@MiKohiyama) January 16, 2021
These hundreds of messages, clinical observation of a taboo in the process of falling, relate to facts for some judged, for others prescribed or never denounced.
“Camille Kouchner read them.
She will soon begin to answer everyone, ”says her publishing house, which claims to receive“ a lot ”of mail.
PODCAST. The Olivier Duhamel affair: Camille Kouchner's shocking book that breaks the taboo of incest
Advance the law
Child protection associations, too, also note this fundamental movement, "of an incredible magnitude" and which has "the merit of raising questions which will perhaps advance the law", hopes lawyer Pascal Cussigh.
"If people express themselves today in books, it is because the law, in particular the limitation periods, prevents them from accessing the court", notes the secretary of the Collective for Children, 33 associations united for more protective legislation for victims.
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"To speak is to jump into the void": these victims of incest long walled in silence
In this area, France is lagging behind.
Three bills on the subject are in preparation, one of which was adopted unanimously on Thursday by the Senate.
It sets at 13 years, the age below which the victim's “consent” cannot be questioned, in the event of rape.
"There is also a lot to do for research on incest, screening and prevention, victim care, investigations ...", says Isabelle Aubry, the president of Face à inceste.
“Since the #MeToo movement, scandals have arisen in the world of sport, religion, school… but not the family.
It was the last bastion.
Finally, the word incest is heard, ”she greets.
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On Wednesday January 20, at the microphone of RTL, the wife of the Head of State, Brigitte Macron, took up the subject: "Children must hear what their rights are at school".
Three days earlier, she called, during the television news of TF 1, of her wishes "a judicial reform" on the subject.
A message quickly qualified by the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, reluctant to "give in to the haste called for by a legitimate emotion".