An extraordinary national awakening to the extent of child sex abuse and its traumatic consequences followed the publication in France last year of a book, La Familia grande, exposing the recurrent sexual abuse of the author’s twin brother by their stepfather. Its publication prompted an outpouring of posts on social media by victims of similar abuse, and the creation, at the behest of President Emmanuel Macron, of an advisory “independent commission on incest and sexual violence towards children”. The commission has now published a preliminary report following its national appeal for victims to come forward to detail their experiences, to which more than 16,000 people have so far responded. Sarah Brethes reports.
The publication in France in January last year of La Familia grande, a book in which the jurist and law lecturer Camille Kouchner exposed how her twin brother, when a young teenager in the late 1980s, suffered repeated sexual abuse, including rape, by their stepfather, prompted an extraordinary national awakening to the extent of child sex abuse and incest, and the deep trauma caused to victims.
