Harassed for seven years at school, Diane Lemaitre committed suicide at the age of 21 on May 5, 2016. The young Toulousaine left many writings discovered by her sister, Agathe, who drew The book of Liane, published by Harper Collins France (March 2023, 19 euros). The violence began in 6th grade, in middle school, with mockery about the physique, glasses, good grades, before the bullies discovered in 5th grade that Diane is a lesbian. Diane tells this school harassment to a school nurse, who minimizes this violence by evoking "kidding". Later, the young woman wrote in her diary that she felt "hopelessly misunderstood and abandoned" during these years in middle school and high school.

Violence minimized

Diane enters university, the violence stops. The young woman finds herself alone in her studio in Toulouse. She lives at the worst this past that does not pass. No one in her family knows that the student is at her worst, the young woman does not tell her family. Diane, who dreamed of becoming a writer, writes down her ailments, consults shrinks for depression, school phobia and post-traumatic stress. It is rejected legal proceedings for lack of evidence. Diane develops a permanent fear, reinforced by the fact that one of her former harassers has moved to her neighborhood. The pain becomes too strong. Before her suicide, she wrote in her diary: "I say it loud and clear: words can kill (...) Words can heal, too." It is from his notes and the investigation carried out after Diane's suicide by her sister Agathe that Le livre de Liane.

In this podcast "Minute Papillon!", which welcomes Agathe Lemaitre, the thirty-year-old returns to the mechanisms of harassment, and the need to talk about this violence. "Mental health is not something that can be seen on the face, on the physical. And if we do not ask the question, we can miss it, "says Agathe Lemaitre in this episode.

"[Diane] made the choice not to talk to her family, she told herself that she was going to seek help from professionals trained to accompany children who were victims of school bullying rather than from her family who were going to worry, and who were going to ask her if it was okay every five minutes. Maybe she didn't want to have us on our backs," regrets Agathe Lemaitre.

700,000 students are victims of harassment on average

Like Diane, an average of 700,000 students are bullied each year in France, or two to three children per class. And one in four people bullied thought about suicide, according to a UNICEF survey. Listen to Agathe Lemaitre in this episode, tell the story of Diane, and the need to fight this violence that kills every year.

Witness or victim of harassment, you can dial 30 20 to report a case. This number is free from all extensions, and offers listening, advice and guidance to callers. The 3020 can be reached from Monday to Friday, except public holidays, from 9am to 20pm from Monday to Friday and from 9am to 18pm on Saturdays. In case of cyberbullying, you can dial 3018, a listening device for victims of online harassment and digital violence, accessible 7 days a week from 7am to 9pm, free, anonymous and confidential.

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