The trial of France’s most notorious paedophile, a retired surgeon, shows how the code of silence was what allowed him to predate hundreds of victims throughout is highly successful career. This same code of silence continues to protect paedophiles in Tasmania. Omerta refers to the code of silence used by the mafia internationally to protect organised crime networks.

The high profile trial of this surgeon has highlighted the code of silence which characterised the French medical profession, and its role in enabling his criminal abuse of dozens of his child patients, over decades. Victims have also been shocked by the apparent indifference of the French community to their suffering at the hands of this serial paedophile.

There are so many parallels with our experiences in Tasmania as revealed by our Commission of Inquiry;

• Professions prioritise the interests of their members over those of children and other vulnerable people
• Societies that are wilfully blind to child abuse fuel intergenerational abuse
• Victims and their supporters are characterised as trouble-makers
• Patriarchal institutions like Medicine, Police and Churches are particularly inclined to cover-up abuse perpetrated by their members
• Those that breach the ‘omerta’ or code of silence experience retribution

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg559zz3d8o