Anne S. often thinks about this consultation. It was nine years ago, and yet nothing takes him back. She sees herself again, lying in the middle of this “not very clean and cluttered” office, with her legs apart. She still visualizes the gown, the hands, the gestures of the practitioner. Everything is there, burning in her memory, from the words said by the man, to the color of the panties she wore that day. She never put it on again.
It was the first time that Anne S. saw the osteopath. As soon as his gloves were on, he leaned over her. The young woman, 39, recounts ten “unbearable” minutes, during which the man pinched and pressed the inside of her genitals. It was only at the end that the professional explained himself. “He said that it was necessary, that he had, deep down in my private life, adhesions, and that now everything was back to normal, that I would not have to see him again.”
For an osteopath to act in this way is not normal: “touching” has been prohibited for these professionals since 2007. Anne S. is a nurse, but she didn’t know it. When he got up, a “huge migraine” came over him. Of those that accompany “emotional shocks”, she says today. The young woman began researching her practitioner, but she never went to report him to the police. “My way of acting is to bear witness.”
Anne S. chose to speak out so that “these abuses stop”. Like her, five women, aged 30 to 46 and from Ile-de-France, central and northern France, decided to testify, in L’Express, to the “insane” actions of their practitioner. The facts reported were all committed under the cover of the same practice: “intrapelvic osteopathy”, an anchored pseudotherapy which claims to cure through manipulations from the vagina or rectum.
In the absence of jurisdiction, of an “Order of osteopaths”, no register lists the victims of these unfounded actions, relating to illegal medicine or rape. But, as L’Express revealed at the beginning of December, it is not uncommon for these “techniques” to be proposed – or imposed. “My friends knew an osteopath who did it openly. It’s part of word of mouth, part of the range of traditional remedies,” relates Manuela*, 39 years old. His session? A “nightmare”. “At first, I was enthusiastic. There were birth announcements all over the walls, and the practitioner said that she did that often, that women’s organs had to be put back in place. But that quickly changed. “Already her position was strange: she was almost lying on top of me, I felt her hair on my face and since manipulating my vagina was not enough, she also put her hands in my rectum, which led to spontaneous defecation. .
“I no longer have any doubt, it’s rape”
Manuela is certain: these gestures, as ludicrous as they may be, were only carried out by virtue of the practitioner’s beliefs, “there was nothing sexual about it” she affirms. The act had no other repercussion than strong embarrassment. Héléna* was not so lucky. Twenty years of her thinking: “At first, I didn’t experience it as an attack. But I thought about it a lot. Now, with what I know about the practice, I can’t help but wonder about the sexual dimension of his gestures”, recounts this 38-year-old speech therapist.
Héléna went from doctor to doctor before seeing the osteopath, for women’s pathologies. A situation common to all victims. “I had repeated urinary infections. I saw lots of urologists, gynecologists, I had a lot of pain in my lower abdomen, but no one could make a diagnosis. If I wasn’t desperate, I would not have consulted an osteopath for these reasons,” she explains. The practitioner had him undress to study his posture, then concluded that it was necessary to “put his sacrum back in place”. The manipulation didn’t change anything.
Touching has never been enough to heal. Barely an adult at the time, Héléna was unable to oppose the practitioner’s certainties. Often confused with “caregivers”, even though they are not authorized to make a diagnosis, osteopaths benefit, in fact, from a position of authority, which makes refusals more difficult. “The man was much older than me, and he had a professional title. At first, I asked him if I could think about it. He told me that if I wasn’t ready now, I would have to pay again next time.”
After her session, Héléna felt “dirty”, “ashamed”, but at no time did she speak of sexual assault. Like her, victims sometimes wonder for years about the practitioner’s real motives. This type of gesture in particular, not very evocative and presented as necessary, clouds discernment. The therapeutic aspect makes awareness, when it occurs, particularly difficult. However, it is not necessary to demonstrate sexual intent during rape. Constraint or surprise is enough.
A few months ago, Erica Spied, 46, came across an online post recalling these principles. It was thanks to whistleblowers about sexual violence and pseudotherapeutic abuses that she and others understood that “the coffee pot whistled”, as she likes to say. “If this had happened to me recently, I would have gone to file a complaint. Now I no longer have any doubt, it is rape. It should never have happened, no matter what the practitioner had in mind, these are non-consensual and unjustified touching”, regrets this groom, originally from the north of France. The session she describes took place ten years ago. Long before the freedom of speech, the repeated sexual assault scandals, and the Mazan rape trial. “Who would have wanted to hear these things at the time? The memory of this session is still vivid. It was aberrant, barbaric, it hurt me, but I didn’t tell anyone about it until very recently. Osteopaths who practice these pseudo-internal techniques should take a #MeToo, it wouldn’t do them too much harm,” says Erica Spied. She insisted on testifying on his behalf.
“He only undressed young people”
Being informed helps, but it’s not always enough. Léa* was in osteopathy school. She knew the law. But the osteopaths and caregivers she visited presented the intrapelvic as a “cure for everything”. And the one who offered to “take charge” of his gynecological pain was none other than the most renowned professor at the establishment. After all, you can’t know everything, she convinced herself. “He first brought me in for grueling sessions lasting several hours every two weeks. Then he started putting his hands under my underwear.”
This time the man’s intention leaves no doubt: “We will have to move on to internal techniques”, he told him one day. Léa ignores. The next session, he threatens: “It’s either the intern or we stop, and you can say goodbye to your healing process.” “I was recruited,” she denounces today. His realization was most brutal. Receiving a phone call from the police immediately gives another dimension to things. The agent called back all the old clients. On the phone, he told her that the professor had already been sued in the past, and that there were dozens of them filing complaints. She was auditioned in July.
Cases like this, with so many victims for the same accused osteopath, do not make the headlines in the national media. But they are not that rare. Claire*, a retired doctor in Aveyron, contacted us to tell us about hers, her “big” affair: “My patients asked me if it was normal to be touched. That’s how it is that I discovered the pot aux roses” In total, 62 women filed a complaint. “He only undressed the young people, the old ones he only gave them authorized osteopathy,” raises the caregiver. The osteopath only received six months in prison.
By speaking out in this way, Claire, Léa, Manuela, Héléna, Erica and Anne hope to put an end to the leniency around this pseudotherapy. Its impact is too often underestimated. Pelvic osteopathy is not a therapeutic deviation like any other, they say. These victims wish to lift the silence on “these numerous situations where these techniques serve as a Trojan horse for abuses”. Consented, or forced, concealing a sexual intention or for the sole reason of therapeutic beliefs, intrapelvic osteopathy is never acceptable.
* First names have been changed
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