“Do not lock the child victim of incest in his trauma!” Let us take up the challenge of hearing it better, protecting it and supporting it ”

Tribune. Psychiatrist Muriel Salmona dedicates her life to the defense of victims, in particular children victims of incest and pedophilia from which she herself suffered as a child.

In 2009, she founded the association Traumatic memory and victimology. With an undeniable clinical experience, she described and popularized the notions of traumatic memory, psychotrauma, traumatic dissociation and amnesia. Many recognized themselves there but not all, because a generalization of the clinic is always abusive.

Can we let her say everything without reacting? Since January 14, 2021, the media Gross has posted its direct to children address online. For a few minutes, Muriel Salmona speaks straight in the eyes, without a smile, to those under ten and says to them:

“To you, future victim of incest, I am sorry because you are going to be raped by one of your family members. It’s intolerable. You are certainly less than ten years old. I don’t know under what circumstances it’s going to happen but your stepfather, your father, your brother, your uncle will certainly come back several times. Maybe some of your family will understand what is going on but they will choose not to say anything to side with the abuser, not to break up the family, not to wave and you will be left alone .

You will be one of the 6.7 million people who have suffered incest in France. Today, we know that one in five girls and one in thirteen boys experience sexual violence, half of which is incestuous. I am sorry for you because if nothing is done to help you, protect you, cure you, this incest will have very heavy consequences on your health and on your life. You have a 50% risk of making suicide attempts, repetitive depression, eating disorders, sleep disorders, addictive behavior. You risk suffering from it all your life. You risk living in fear, fear of the aggressor, fear of being subjected to violence again, fear of everything.

I’m sorry for all the consequences this can have on your professional life, on your love life, on your sexuality.

It will be very difficult but you will try to speak, to call for help, but there is a great risk that we will not listen to you and that we will not protect you. You will have to survive the violence and its psychotraumatic consequences on your own. You will think that it is you who are not normal when all these symptoms, all these difficulties are directly linked to violence and are the normal and universal consequences.

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