Shedding light on silence and (in)action: understanding bystander dynamics in cases of historical (sexual) transgressive behavior within Belgian Catholic contexts (1950-1989)

Despite the global and local increased awareness of (sexual) transgressive behavior in Catholic contexts over the past few decades, historical research on this issue in Belgium remains limited. Moving away from a binary survivor-perpetrator approach, this paper addresses the (national and international) understudied role of historical bystanders in cases of (sexual) transgressive behavior of adults towards minors within Belgian (Flemish) Catholic contexts (1950-1989). The concept of 'bystandership' is used to encompass individuals (with various responsibilities and potential courses of action) who were part of and affected by the Catholic environments in which historical (sexual) transgressive behavior could take place. Through a literature review and the analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with both survivors and bystanders, this paper, drawing upon the method of oral history, aims to comprehend how prevailing historical Catholic institutional and socio-cultural perspectives on sexuality and child-adult sexual interactions may have influenced bystander attitudes in the outlined context.