Guest of Midi Europe, Marie Drilhon, president of the Yvelines branch of the Association for the Defense of Families and Individuals Victims of Cults, reports an increase in reports since the start of the crisis.

Many movements have been created around health themes. 

INTERVIEW

The Covid-19 crisis has boosted the circulation of false information and conspiracy theories.

Sectarian discourse has also adapted to the anxieties fueled by health uncertainties, exploiting new vulnerabilities within the population.

This is what emerges from a Miviludes report dated July 22, and covering the period 2018-2022.

The Interministerial Mission against Sectarian Abuses noted a 40% increase in reports compared to 2015 figures. Between March and December 2020, some 200 referrals were directly linked to the health crisis.

Drifts associated with health issues

"Our associations have observed since the start of the pandemic an increase in reports. It is understandable that the population has been weakened [...]. Certain movements have benefited from it", agrees with Europe 1 Marie Drilhon, the president of the branch of the Association for the Defense of Families and Individuals Victims of Sects (ADFI) in Yvelines. "Others have been created around vaccination, the health pass and new regulations," she points out.

"In the category of health and well-being, it has been known for a very long time that there was a whole category of anti-vaccine people, opposed to pharmaceutical companies, etc.", continues this association manager.

"But there, it really came out in broad daylight. In the last reports that we received, some people would never have thought that their relatives would cut themselves off at this point from their entourage", reports Marie Drilhon.

>>

Find Europe midi in replay and podcast here 

"The events of life make periods of fragility"

"The victims find answers, or at least comfort, on social networks, on sites, which has created virtual communities from which it is sometimes difficult to leave", further decrypts this specialist in sectarian movements. "In a situation of isolation or doubt, we are happy to find people who think like us. It is a process that can lead to a complete reconstruction of the vision of the world." Certain religious movements have also developed with the arrival of the virus a very marked eschatological discourse, generally on the theme of divine punishment.

Marie Drilhon calls for vigilance in this difficult period. "We can all, at one time or another, have a moment of fragility without being fully aware of it. Life events make periods of fragility rather than profiles of fragility," she insists.