Let’s start with a correction. In a column on the courage of Catherine Fournier, I wrote on Wednesday that times had changed1.
Not so long ago, we would have found that a woman who agrees to lie down next to a man would necessarily have sought it out a bit. Fortunately, society has evolved, I argued with a touch of naivety.
As for the evolution, I regret to announce that it is not quite there yet. Not if I trust my inbox, which violently propelled me to 1983. Maybe even 1953.
Do you think I’m exaggerating? Here, dear readers, are some of the messages I received. I’ll meet you after the extracts, if you’re still here.
Michel, peremptory: “I want women in general to understand that sleeping with a foreigner, even a notorious deputy, especially with an individual 30 years his senior, will end in an assault, especially in the same bed. Human nature is like that. Today, Madame Fournier is solely responsible for her misfortune. »
Francine, laconic: “Poor idiot who is charmed by an ambitious little bitch. »
Marcel, incredulous: “Not a cry to alert a friend in the adjacent room, a telephone to the police? Get dressed and leave, because Mr. LeBel wasn’t holding her, it seems? »
Pierre, indignant: “Clearly, she was not chained to her bed…nothing forced her to stay and suffer what she says she suffered. SHE HAD TO JUST SAY NO AND CRUSH HER CAMP FROM THERE. »
Daniel, skeptical: “I was frozen, she says… I don’t believe her. She is an adult and vaccinated as far as I know, her silence and her presence in this bed are an obvious sign of consent. If I were in the gentleman’s place, I would pursue this lady. »
Thérèse, discouraged: “I can’t wait for the girls of this generation to be more resourceful and less naive. They are supposed to be informed, I can’t believe it. It’s 2023, wake up and be smart. »
France, resolute: “One thing is certain, I will not vote for her in the next elections. I don’t believe that a woman who is afraid to resist a man’s advances has enough backbone to run a town. »
Luc, bombastic, addressing the mayor: “Why didn’t your friend, like you, enjoin the ex-deputy not to undermine your modesty, failing that, to take action against him? »
We have greatly praised the courage of Catherine Fournier since she decided to come out of the shadows.
I took all the measure of the courage that she will have to show by going through my mailbox. The politician was undoubtedly ready for this kind of reaction. Nevertheless. Such prejudices send shivers down the spine. Blame the victim, in 2023, really?
Oh, you don’t believe her? Harold LeBel has yet undergone a trial. A jury, therefore 12 anonymous citizens of Rimouski, rendered their verdict: guilty. The former MP was sentenced to prison. He said he regretted his actions.
He sexually assaulted her. He’s the culprit. Not her.
“Me, you would have put me in this situation, such and such a thing is going to happen to you, it’s obvious that I would have answered: well, let’s see! I would have got up, I would have run away, I would have shouted…”
Catherine Fournier herself confided to host Paul Arcand on Wednesday: she would not have thought to react as she did on that night in October 2017.
But yes, she froze. By fear. And because Harold LeBel was a “totally different” man that night from the one she knew. She went into “protective mode”.
“I was afraid, if I did something, that the situation would degenerate even more, especially since a little earlier in the evening, he had shown a lot of aggression”, she explained to the microphone. from 98.5 FM.
Still not convinced? Turn to science. Freezing is one of the most common reactions of victims of sexual assault. “The first instinct of the brain is to freeze. The victim freezes when the amygdala senses a threat and signals the brainstem to block movement,” reads a report submitted to Justice Canada in 2019.2.
Under the effect of intense stress, the victim does not have the means to make a “calculated and rational assessment of the situation”. She loses the use of her execution functions. His brain can no longer make decisions, reads the report, written by a psychologist and a professor of law.
These common psychological and neurological reactions are why a sexual assault victim won’t fight back, scream or run away.
The justice system has come to understand that. Even Quebec has specialized courts for sexual assault, to better support victims.
And above all, to stop blaming them.