Ik was een kind

A reformed girl reports sexual abuse within her family, but the accused are acquitted. Twenty-five years later, how does her community look back on what happened?

Anneloes grows up in a devout religious subculture in the Netherlands, within the Reformed Congregations. Her childhood is marked by a strict observance of Sunday rest, the absence of television, and the belief that men are the head of the household.

Twenty-five years ago, Anneloes reported sexual abuse within her family. However, the accused were acquitted, even on appeal.

At the age of sixteen, she spoke out publicly for the first time, but when her story was met with denial, she suffered a severe mental breakdown. This led to years of institutionalisation in various psychiatric clinics, including months spent in solitary confinement. Due to an offence, she was examined at the Pieter Baan Centre, the Dutch national forensic psychiatric observation clinic, where it was determined that she had grown up in an extremely unhealthy family system.

Now, twenty-five years later, Anneloes asks those directly involved to reflect with her on her fractured life and explores the meaning of concepts such as love, loyalty, and security. When does an upbringing in an isolated subculture become control, manipulation, indoctrination, or even abuse of power?

Ik was een kind (I was only a child) is a film about a woman who, as a child, became trapped between different systems. Through reflective, confronting, and heartrending conversations, she attempts to make sense of what has happened to her since she first spoke out.

Ik was een kind is part of the 10 Geboden (Ten Commandments) series, a co-production by Dutch broadcaster EO and DOXY, and explores the Fifth Commandment: Honour your father and your mother.