“People knew something was wrong”

Marius Bråtelund was sexually abused by his father for ten years. In retrospect, he has come to realise that both neighbours and doctors understood that “something” was wrong.

Marius was six years old the first time he was raped by his father. The abuse continued until he was 16. As a result of the shame, he never told anyone about what was going on, but both neighbours and his paediatrician explained in court that they had seen signs that something was wrong, but they chose not to report their concern to either the police or Child Welfare Services.

“People knew something was going on. Especially at school. I was absent a lot and participated little in class. The neighbours heard a lot of screaming and loud noises, so I know that people knew that something was going on,” says Marius.

The duty to avert criminal acts makes it a criminal offence not to try to prevent the kind of abuse to which Marius Bråtelund was subjected – but few are aware of this duty.

Today, Marius travels around, giving lectures about both his experiences and his encounter with the system when he finally received help as a 16-year-old. He believes there is too little knowledge among those who work with children and young people about the signals that victims of abuse send out. Therefore, he is fighting to direct more focus on this in the training that teachers, social workers and child and youth workers receive.

“My paediatrician, who had seen bruises and other physical signs, chose not to report the situation. When a doctor doesn’t take the responsibility we should expect of someone in their position, I think it is a very passive approach. I think that’s sad. I understand that it’s not easy, but it must be better to send one too many notices of concern than to send one too few,” says Bråtelund.

For Bråtelund, the duty to avert criminal acts should be an important tool for those who work with people who may be the victims of abuse.

“It is something that should be taught to those who will be working with children and young people. There should be a greater focus on this topic in the relevant study programmes. There are very many who don’t know how to detect the signals that victims give out. It is also important to learn how to build trust with victims of abuse,” he says.

“There are some gaps in the way society handles this, and the duty to avert criminal acts is something people should be aware of. It could prevent a lot of suffering if more people would report what they know,” he says. Bråtelund believes that he could have been spared many years of abuse if someone had reported his situation. It would have made his life completely different.

“If someone had dared to speak out, I would have been able to get away from that environment sooner, and perhaps had a more normal childhood and adolescence. I could have been spared many delayed after-effects and traumatic memories,” he says.