looking for “co-victims” to escape isolation – Libération

The Coabuse site collects testimonies and connects victims of the same attacker. A way of “sharing the trauma” which, for some, helps bring cases to court. More than 6,000 forms were completed, and more than 200 people connected.

Since Abbé Pierre’s victims became known, eyes have turned to Franck Favre’s site. It is for these forgotten people, who often remain in silence for years, that this 58-year-old agri-food executive created the Coabuse website. Although rudimentary in appearance, the operation of the site is unique in France. Using an anonymous form, it links victims of the same attacker. “I have often been told that simply filling out the form does the victims good. Many have never talked about it. Being able to do it in writing already frees them a little,” says the volunteer webmaster from his village in the Rhône. It is he, behind his screen, who is the sole recipient of these secrets.

While, according to INSEE, only 6% of victims of sexual violence filed a complaint in 2021, and 86% of complaints were closed without follow-up between 2012 and 2021, the operation of Coabuse is as simple as it is effective: A person who has been a victim of sexual violence can tell their story, name or describe their attacker. Franck Favre studies all the stories and thanks to the names, dates or places, establishes the link between the victims of the same attacker. At each “match”, the