(BELGIUM)
Belga News Agency [Brussels, Belgium]
February 23, 2025
The Flemish recognition and mediation commission for victims of historical abuse wants to declare 23 February as the Day of the Forgotten Victim, reported newspaper De Zondag. A day earlier, 22 February, is listed as the European Day for the Victims of Crime.
Following testimonies of transgressive behaviour in youth and education institutions, a temporary recognition and mediation commission was set up in Flanders in 2014. Years later, in 2018, the Flemish parliament organised hearings with testimonies of sexual abuse, first from the sports sector and then in other sectors. Afterwards, the parliament drafted a decree to make the commission permanent and expand its scope. “As a society, we underestimate how destructive violence or abuse is for a child, also in their later life”
Since 2020, victims of transgressive behaviour in all relationships of authority, peer relations and in intrafamilial contexts can be heard by the commission. It deals with acts that happened more than ten years ago. The commission is there both for victims who were minors at the time of the acts and for victims who were adults at the time. Last year, the commission received 121 reports.
“Through recognition, we want to help people to deal with the pain of violence or abuse and give victims the space to take another action,” said Cathia Coekaerts, vice-president of the commission, to De Zondag. “If it is possible and the victim wants it, we contact the perpetrator and mediate between the two parties.”
“As a society, we underestimate how destructive violence or abuse is for a child, also in their later life,” she added. “So in order to continue to pay attention to this, 23 February should become the Day of the Forgotten Victim.”
The Flemish recognition and mediation commission for victims of historical abuse can be contacted by phone (02 553 20 50) and email (comeb@vlaanderen.be). More info on the website: https://comeb.be