Olivier Duhamel: allegations of incest in France lead victims to speak up

Tens of thousands of people responded to a social media campaign in France aimed at shedding light on the problem of sexual abuse within families.

The campaign, with the hashtag #MeTooInceste (after the #MeToo movement), was started over the weekend by NousToutes, an organization that fights against sexual violence in France. French incest is used to mean sexual abuse by relatives, including those who are not blood relatives.

It followed accusations against a prominent political commentator, Olivier Duhamel, who was accused by his stepdaughter of abusing his twin brother 30 years ago. Mr Duhamel described the charges as “personal attacks”.

The Twitter campaign started late last week with a message from 67-year-old NousToutes activist Marie Chenevance.

“It was now or never to break the omerta [code of silence] around that issue, “said Marie. In the early years, she said, activists found a” wall of silence “when they shared their stories of family abuse.

More than 80,000 people have responded to the campaign since Saturday, the organization says.

Mié Kohiyama was one of those who shared her story, alongside a drawing she did at the age of five.

The image shows a child without a mouth, next to the words “Help me”. At that time, it was her way of talking about abuse, she said, but no one heard the message.

“On Saturday, when I posted this tweet,” she said, “it’s weird to say, but I was proud of the girl who made this drawing.

“I tell myself that now people can understand this type of drawing. Forty years ago, that was not possible.”

Part of the reason that the charges against Duhamel had such an impact, activists say, is that her stepdaughter Camille Kouchner’s account in her book La Familia Grande describes not only the alleged behavior itself, but the culture of secrecy she says is surrounded the family.

Muriel Salmona, a leading psychologist specializing in sexual violence, says the questions raised by Duhamel’s stepdaughter along with the launch of the new hashtag have opened up a “safe space” for victims to speak.

Historically, she says, there has been “almost complete impunity in France” for family offenders, with less than 1% of cases of rape against minors ending up in court.

“The figures on violence against children are bad for most of Europe,” explained Dr. Salmona. “But in France there is a trend that tolerates sexual violence against children.”

The law around this issue is complex. Sex with minors is illegal, but to prove the most serious charges of rape or sexual assault – including that of a child – it is necessary to prove that violence, threat, surprise or coercion was used.

If the perpetrator is much older than the victim, or in a position of authority, this can be seen as coercion, but Dr. Salmona says it is not automatic.

This means that, legally speaking, a child as young as 11 can be considered to have consented to have sex with an adult.

Activists have long called for a legal majority, but repeated attempts to change the law have so far failed.

A survey at the end of last year suggested that one in ten people in France had experienced sexual abuse in the family in childhood.

Marie Chenevance said she knew there would be a large number of people affected by the new campaign, but was surprised by the abundance of testimonials.

“On the one hand, the stories are sad,” she said, “but on the other hand, it’s good – it’s liberating.”