While sexual violence is vast and multiple, it is generally committed against women by men they know. They can take many forms, but last fall, one means in particular was denounced, in particular via the hashtag « #Balancetonbar », many women testifying to having been drugged without their knowledge in a café, bar or club, then sexually assaulted .
To combat this phenomenon, a motion for a resolution has been tabled in the Senate, including 25 recommendations for the attention of the various governments of Belgium to take « urgent measures to put an end to sexual violence facilitated by drugs rape or other inhibiting substances ». These include prevention measures, the launching of awareness campaigns, training in schools but also for café operators, police forces, lawyers, magistrates, etc.
To discuss it, several experts were invited on Monday to present their vision of things to the Advisory Committee for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men. The Self-Managed Inclusive Feminist Union (UFIA) notably pointed out two shortcomings in the proposal.
The first concerns the absence of intersectionality, or taking into account that people simultaneously experience several forms of discrimination because of their supposed origin, their sexual orientation or their disability in particular. However, the recommendations mention « women without further precision », denounced Ntumba Matunga, member of the UFIA. « This is a glaring lack of inclusiveness of an unequal society that does not take into account racialized people (subject to racism, editor’s note), with disabilities and/or whose sexual orientation is not not heterosexual », she added, stressing that these discriminations nevertheless constitute a « facilitating element ». It is because the person is racialized, disabled or non-heterosexual that they are more vulnerable to sexual violence.
Another shortcoming, according to the UFIA: the measures concerning prevention focus on the victims, the feminist union recommending instead to focus on the aggressors. « When we identify as a woman, we are always alert, we know that we are putting ourselves in danger when we go out », exposed Laura Baiwir, member of this collective. It is therefore not necessary to make potential victims aware of the risks they run, but rather to prevent the aggressors from attacking by making them aware.
The experts heard on Monday also pointed to the culture of rape in society, which refers to all attitudes and behaviors that minimize, normalize or encourage rape. « We must tackle the minimization of sexual violence » and the denigration of victims, pleaded two initiators of the Meldet.Org site, which lists the places in Ghent where harassment is reported.
When it comes to sexual violence facilitated by the absorption of substances, the voluntary consumption of alcohol or other drugs can prevent the victim from denouncing his attack, added Céline Van Vaerenbergh, coordinator of the Center for the management of sexual violence. (CPVS) of the CHU Saint-Pierre in Brussels. The fear or the risk of being blamed or accused constitutes an obstacle to the denunciation of this violence.
All the specialists thus insisted on the need to better train the police officers so that the survivors are no longer afraid to go to a police station. But also to give more means to Justice, in which many victims no longer believe in view of the number of files closed without action or resulting in a dismissal, exposed the experts.
According to data from Ms. Van Vaerenbergh, the five CPVS in Belgium received 4,943 victims between 2017 and 2021, 89% of whom were women. The coordinator also pleaded for the launch of a study on sexual assault facilitated by substances, for which there are currently no statistics.
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