Three years after #MeToo, France is witnessing a new awakening of the popular movement, designed to break the silence around sexual assault.
On Saturday night, thousands of people took to social media to share that they were victims of incest, recurring to the hashtag #MeTooInceste.
This comes only ten days after the release of La Familia Grande (Seuil), a book which is thought to have triggered this new wave of testimonies. In this autobiographical work, the author and prestigious lawyer and academic Camille Kouchner, accused her step-father Olivier Duhamel, one of France’s most renowned political scientists, academics and media personalities of sexually abusing her twin brother when he was just thirteen years-old. Following the release of the book, the constitutionalist proceeded to resign from his various influential posts.
"It was my grand-father, I was 11, 12, 13 years-old, and had no idea of what "consent" meant."
"It was between the age of 11 and 14. It was my brother. I'm 57 and I'm still a victim of my past. Aside from my daughter, I wasn't able to build anything. Ma social, professional and sentimental life is merely a sequence of failures and isolation."
"Now we can stop saying that they are monsters, that they are sick, that they are mad... #metooinceste proves us wrong. They're brothers, fathers, grand-parents, uncles, cousins... family. I was 7, then 9, and then 12... I only dared to say something for the third time."
Similarly to the first wave of #MeToo, victims are now sharing their personal stories, encouraging others to break the taboo around incest. Incest has proven to be the most common form of child sexual abuse, while remaining one of the least reported. This comes for a number of reasons: firstly, the victims are minors and abused by someone whom they consider to be a figure of authority; also, victims of incest usually cannot report the event because of the feeling of guilt, shame, and fear that overcomes them. Lastly, studies have shown that even if the family is aware of the abuse, in most cases they prefer to keep the situation secret, cultivating taboo and protecting the perpetrator.
Here at The Elephant in the Room, we want to break taboo around all forms of sexual abuse. You can anonymously share your story with us at intheroomtheelephant@gmail.com
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