2023-08-03 12:37:55
“It was high time“ launches Nina Parmentier, social worker. “If only to work on trust with the young people and the victims, it is very important to be able to tell them that here it is forbidden, that we can file a complaint and help them.“.
This step is also important symbolically, as it reverses the roles of victim and culprit. “This allows you to say to yourself ‘it’s not me who’s guilty, who’s sick’“ she adds.
Heavy traumatic consequences
The stakes are high, because conversion therapies have enormous psychological consequences. “There is a scale of strong traumatic consequences that last for a very long time. It’s as if they come out of their bodies to survive. Some sink into drugs, others prostitute themselves“, explains Nina Parmentier.
I thought regarding killing myself.
Dan took several years to recover. “This caused me great troubles, great guilt, moments of very strong psychological down that made me lose interest in life. I thought regarding killing myself. I made several attempts which were aborted“.
“These toxic beliefs are deeply rooted in us. It’s hard to get rid of it. It’s a bit like being programmed, like a computer, and having to format everything and reinstall“ summarizes Dan.
Some conversion practices go as far as violence and gang rape. But most often, they go through insidious manipulation.
Until 1990, homosexuality was still considered a mental illness by the World Health Organization. As for transidentity, it only left the list of diseases in 2018.
There is still a long way to go to completely eradicate conversion therapy. But everyone agrees that an important step has been taken in Belgium.
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