The first national assizes against sectarian aberrations open this Thursday in Paris. The president of Miviludes, the interministerial mission which monitors and fights against sectarian aberrations, notes on franceinfo an increase in reports over five years.
The number of reports received by Miviludes is in “86% increase in five years”indicates on franceinfo, this Thursday, March 9, Christian Gravel, president of this interministerial mission which monitors and fights against sectarian aberrations. “Hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens are directly or indirectly affected by these issues”he adds, as the first national assizes against sectarian aberrations open in Paris.
franceinfo: Do we have an idea of the number of people who are living under the influence today?
Christian Gravel: Hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens are affected directly or indirectly by these issues. A parliamentary report a few years ago mentioned half a million. The number of reports received by Miviludes has increased by 86% in five years. This process is pernicious, perverse, because it is part of mental manipulation. Obviously, it is dangerous since it results in psychological, financial and physical problems. Sometimes it results in drama, such as rape or death.
>> VIDEO. Social networks: investigation into new online sectarian aberrations
Is this estimate not the visible part of the phenomenon?
Of course. Most victims are unaware, by definition, that they are victims of mind control by cult entrepreneurs, cult delinquents or criminals. Very often, it is the relatives who alert us. This then makes it possible to initiate a certain number of coordination processes, actions of repression on the individuals or structures concerned.
We know the sects that are Scientology or the Jehovah’s Witnesses, minus the “new gurus”. Who are they ?
One of the key elements of this evolution of the sectarian phenomenon is first of all the emergence of social networks, and therefore the multiplication of sectarian micro-influencers. They always follow the same logic, selling you happiness, miracle recipes, especially when you are faced with illness. They exploit all the flaws, all the vulnerabilities, all the weaknesses that can affect each of us.
How do you notice that someone close to you is under the influence of a sect?
What should alert us is the change in behavior, the change in discourse. When you have a gradual break with the environment, society, institutions. One of the characteristics also linked to the emergence of the web is the exponential growth of conspiracy theories and their hybridization with sectarian phenomena. These theories make it possible to feed speeches aimed at breaking, precisely, with the rest of society.
Victims of sects will participate in these first national meetings against sectarian aberrations. Do they have points in common?
Their common point is to have been manipulated by individuals, by groups. It has nothing to do with a question of naivety. We must not underestimate the intelligence of those we have in front of us. They adapt to changes in society, to the needs and expectations of our fellow citizens in search of meaning and who receive a vision of the world, recipes, life guides allowing them to be in a so-called process of advanced, of development, while they are at the heart of manipulations with damages that can be very heavy.