2023-05-15 17:42:45
The measures announced at the National Disability Conference on Wednesday April 26 did not convince the associations. But there is one thing that Marie Rabatel, president of the Francophone Association of Autistic Women (AFFA), was happy to hear from the mouth of the President of the Republic that day.“He is the only one who mentioned the fight against sexual violence against women with disabilities”she had underlined, in a low voice, in the courtyard of the Élysée Palace.
A few weeks earlier, Marie Rabatel had put her suitcases in a Parisian hotel, at the corner of boulevard Saint-Michel. She lives in Isère, but her many hats require her to travel regularly to the capital. “I need things to be fixed in order to situate myself in time and space”, explains the mother, suffering from autism spectrum disorders. So, for her travels, she alternates between two hotels that she knows well.
“I sow seeds to improve humanity”
Expert on the subject of violence at the interministerial disability committee, member of the Independent Commission on incest and sexual violence against children (Ciivise), expert at the Ministry of Sports… At 48, her daily life is punctuated by the fight against gender-based and sexual violence against people with disabilities and children, “with 20 hours a day of volunteering”, she says, sitting on the bed of the narrow hotel room. In his hands, his ” traveling companion “a pink stuffed animal that she never leaves, soothes her. “I would say that I am a gardener who sows seeds to improve humanity”she says shyly, behind tinted glasses that reduce her hypersensitivity to light.
Among her many missions, recently, she was at the initiative of “Reglo’Sport”. The purpose of this tool created with the Ministry of Sports: to fight against verbal, physical and sexual violence in this environment. The latter, which uses the visual of a ruler, makes it possible to identify dangerous situations.
Sport, a refuge
“Sport saved me”, frankly says the former top athlete. As a child, Marie climbed trees, made noise, and ate ants. Her sister, barely older than her, was calm and quiet. “She was my model for all the gestures of everyday life”, she says with tenderness. If she grew up in a loving family that never let her believe that her disability was a problem, it was at school that things got tough.
So, after having suffered the violence of school bullying, sport, in college, was a refuge. “One day, my coach called me to participate in a discus throwing competition. I had never done it, but I broke the record. » Afterwards, things went on, until she became champion of France for the first time at 12 years old. “With autism, it is difficult to identify what you feel, and sport allowed me to feel my body and learn how to relate to others”, she analyzes.
Nine out of ten autistic women say they have experienced sexual violence
But his relationship with others was damaged at a very young age. At 12, Marie was the victim of rape. Today, she no longer sees herself as a victim, “but like a survivor”. Her autism spectrum disorders made her a prime target. “He knew my vulnerabilities”, she assures. In France, nine out of ten autistic women say they have suffered sexual violence, according to a study French relayed by AFFA. A figure more and more unbearable for the member of the Ciivise.
When she was an educator in a specialized establishment, she drew strength from her difficult history to organize motor activities and transmit the notion of consent to children with disabilities. “These activities allowed them to take ownership of their bodies”she explains, a cigarette in her hand.
Between two confidences delivered without language of wood, a discreet smile takes shape on his face. “People think that when you have autism, you don’t feel anything. On the contrary, I feel everything,” entrusts the mother of the disconcerting honesty. On the Parisian balcony, she realizes: “It’s difficult to make all these trips alone, but I tell myself that I am on a mission to save people, and that the others are more important than me. »
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His compass: “It is love that guides me”
“It is love that guides my struggles every day. I start from the principle, despite my difficult history, that at the base, people do not have bad intentions. If he is surrounded by love, the human is necessarily good. When we are affected by autism disorders, love is the best accompaniment we can be offered.
One day, when I no longer had the strength to go on, a friend broke my life trying to keep me alive. It is the love of this person that allowed me to have confidence in humanity again. It is impossible to stay alive without this trust in the other. It is love that saves. »
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