Covered by a blanket of secrecy? Bystandership and sexual violence against minors in Flemish Catholic Contexts (1950s-1980s)
Over the past few decades, various forms of sexual violence against minors within Catholic contexts have received worldwide attention. In Flanders (Belgium), this issue was brought to public attention in April 2010 when it became widely known in society that the then bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, had abused his underage nephew for years. In the following period, it quickly became clear that this was not the only case of sexual violence within a Catholic context in Belgium. As more victims shared their stories, the question became increasingly loud as to how these abuses could remain unnoticed and unaddressed in public for so long, seemingly sustained by an often-mentioned ‘culture of silence’. Ever since, this culture of silence has repeatedly been associated with the passive behavior of individuals who, as bystanders, were present in environments where such violence could occur. In this presentation, the focus lies on this bystander perspective. What prevented them from opposing abuses of power, as well as verbal, physical and/or sexual violence in Flemish Catholic contexts (1950-1989)? Through a literature review and the analysis of 54 semi-structured interviews with both victim-survivors and bystanders, I will examine the factors that motivated these bystanders to either intervene or to remain passive in the face of violence against their peers.
Bio: Leen Deflem is a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven (Belgium), and a member of the Research Unit History of Church and Theology. In her research, “We all knew”, she focusses on the history of (sexual) violence in Flemish Catholic contexts (1950-1989) and the perspective of bystanders.