“late” testimonies, cascading denunciations… Psychologists explain how victims “click”

Victims of sexual violence sometimes break their silence years after the events, to the point that the statute of limitations has sometimes passed. These late testimonies are regularly controversial but find their explanation in psychic and psychological mechanisms.

The most recent example of the questioning of testimony about sexual violence dates back only a few days. On RTL Saturday February 10, Anny Duperey assures to be wary of “late witch hunts”. Speaking in reaction to the testimony of Judith Godrèche two days earlier, on France Inter, after having filed a complaint for rape of a minor against the directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon.

The facts date back to the end of the 80s, Judith Godrèche was 14 years old when she had a relationship with Benoît Jacquot, 40 years old at the time. Six years “of influence”, denounces the actress, who explains having crossed paths with Jacques Doillon on the set of a film at the same period. Filming during which she also accuses him of sexual violence.

More than 30 years have passed since then, and it is on the occasion of the release of his series Icon of French Cinema, broadcast on Arte at the end of 2023, which Judith Godrèche chose to express herself. In the wake of her testimony, other actresses, including Anna Mouglalis, denounced the behavior of Jacques Doillon.

Since her intervention on RTL, Anny Duperey apologized to Judith Godrèche, Tuesday February 13, in the Simone media. “I know from experience, it sometimes takes a very long time to express trauma”, added the actress.

Testimonies lead to others, several decades after the facts: a phenomenon already observed in the news, particularly since the start of the #Metoo movement. A phenomenon which finds psychic, psychological and social explanations.

Removal of traumatic amnesia

To denounce facts, you have to put words to them. Remember them, understand them, formulate them. The remembrance stage is crucial when we know that the most violent traumas are often erased from consciousness by what is called traumatic amnesia. Anaïs Vois is a psychologist specializing in gender-based and sexual violence: “Qhen experiencing a traumatic event which leads to a situation of astonishment and helplessness, the individual is not able to activate the usual memory networks that we all use while things are going relatively well, she explains. This violence that the individual undergoes can, but this is not systematically the case, be repressed at a moment because it is unbearable to keep in consciousness in order to continue one’s life as it is.”

This is frequently the case in intrafamilial sexual violence during childhood: “How can I continue to exist within the family that I need, which reassures me, which allows me to build myself while integrating my conscious conception of existence, that my father is a rapist? The relationships are extremely complex and ambivalent.”

This traumatic amnesia can be total or partial and suddenly lifted later, sometimes twenty, thirty or forty years later: “There are moments when the psychic space is ready to welcome this event in its history. There is something that allows that. It can be triggered by an event, it can also be just a moment when it is possible for the individual to integrate what he had to endure, what he may have been confronted with, without it being too destructive.”

The evolution of morals in society

The evolution of morals and changes in mentality over time sometimes allow certain victims to reconsider a past situation. Salomé Sperber is a psychocriminologist: “There is really an evolution in the limits of oneself, in the limits of the other, in what can be authorized and what is not. But also in the definitions of violence in the very broad sense of the term . Now, we hear a lot about the ‘continuum of violence’ and that allows us to come back and question certain elements that were totally trivialized.”

This evolution of society goes hand in hand with the creation of a space for speech: “Things which at the time were completely silenced could now perhaps find a little resonance because we have allowed ourselves to talk about them, particularly with the #Metoo movement. So yes, things are evolving and perhaps we are able to connect the wagons which allow us to have a systemic reading whereas before we saw more epiphenomena.”

To find the strength to testify or confide, publicly or to loved ones in the private sphere, the victim must be assured that their words can be accepted, that they can be believed, without judgment.

On this subject, Salomé Sperber wishes to remove any prejudice about the profile of the attackers. Most sexual violence is committed by people who are part of the victims’ entourage: “VSWhat we must keep in mind is that we are not necessarily facing people who are crazy or monstrous. This is something that comes up quite regularly to describe the attackers who commit the act. It’s often a bit of what we call next-door neighbor syndrome.” Society often finds it difficult to believe and accept that seemingly “normal” people can commit such acts.

Freeing up the space for speech is also a way of explaining the cascading testimonies that can sometimes emerge: “Potentially hearing that someone has experienced the same thing as you, it allows you to legitimacy.” Hence the particularly virtuous effect of the creation of the Ciase and the Ciivise, insists Salomé Sperber: “It was able to give the little push that was sometimes missing to the person who said to themselves ‘I’m afraid of not being believed or heard.’ Knowing that there are people who have experienced the same thing, potentially with the same attacker – or not – can be reassuring.”

Victims who recognize themselves late are also sometimes overtaken by a protective aspect of other potential victims: “So that there is no longer anyone who is a victim. So the fact of potentially having several people victims of the same attacker can make it easier to speak out.”

In an open letter published in The world and addressed to her daughter, now 18 years old, Judith Godrèche explains this speech: “Not long ago, you were fifteen. Not so long ago, I kept quiet about my story.” she says. Adding: “I understand that it is time to tell my story. For you, for all those who still live in imposed silence.”

Exiting the state of control

To be able to consider oneself as a victim of an aggressor, it is essential that the victim is no longer under the influence of his or her tormentor: “The culmination of the placing under control, explains Salomé Sperber, it’s a kind of reprogramming, it’s like changing the operating system of a computer. So the person who will be under the influence will be parasitized, reprogrammed by the person who is under the influence.”

Getting out of control is a process that can sometimes take a long time to complete, which can only be done while respecting the victim’s pace, explains the psychocriminologist: “One of the mechanisms of control will be to maintain a kind of artistic vagueness which means that the person will end up doubting their own thoughts, their own memories, saying ‘Is this true?’ really happened? Am I right to interpret it as something violent or not, or as something problematic? Leaving a relationship of control requires restoring meaning, resetting one’s own limits as an individual, who have been totally destroyed.” For this it is necessary “deconstruct what may have been inserted a little with forceps.” A process which requires support, explains Salomé Sperber, if the person concerned feels the need.