On February 22, on the eve of the César ceremony, marked by Judith Godrèche's moving speech on sexual assault suffered in the cinema industry, Aurélien Wiik launched the hashtag #MeeTooGarçons to break the silence. Since then, many people have spoken out about the abuses suffered, in the world of cinema, as in all others.
“ From the age of 11 to 15, I was abused by my agent and other people around me. I filed a complaint when I was 16 because he was doing it to others. I sent him to prison. It’s possible ,” testifies the 43-year-old actor on Instagram. He also denounces “ blackmail against roles ”, “ trapped dinners organized by old people with several minors ”, “ wandering hands ”. ” Until I was 25, I was offered roles in exchange for favors. People often tried to drug me .” The entire film industry is once again being called into question.
And he's not the only one talking about it. In his wake, other actors also spoke out. After Francis Renaud's complaints, an investigation was opened against director André Techiné, accused of sexual harassment and against casting director Gérard Moulevrier for sexual assault and against X for death threats. “ Never suffer. Never forget. Never be silent, ” he tweets.
In an investigation by L'Obs published on February 29, it was Farouk Benalleg and Pierre Bégué who declared that they had also been victims of similar acts by producer Dominique Besnehard. The latter immediately denied these accusations.
This liberation of speech has gone far beyond cinema. On Personalities, too, are beginning to break the silence. This is the case of the LFI deputy for Loire-Atlantique Andy Kerbrat. “ You cannot recover from having been a victim, but you can repair yourself, slowly, and even become an MP. I was abused when I was 3 to 4 years old by a predator, who has since died, so without any possibility of justice ,” he declares. “ People believe you and love you (which I did thanks to my parents). You will achieve great things so keep expressing yourself. If you can, go to court .”
If the impression of discovering something completely new is very present, Lucie Wicky, doctoral student in sociology and who is carrying out the first study on sexual violence suffered by men, explained, during an interview for France infos that this does not was not the case. “ Men, like women, spoke before #MeToo but we didn’t listen to them. What is innovative since the general movement of fall 2017 is the repetition and frequency of this speaking out. Social networks are also a new space for denunciation, individual, social and media ,” she analyzes. As early as the 1990s, the first testimonies from men on this subject already appeared. Publicly, it was in the years 2010-2015 that they appeared, with the creation of the association Colosse with Feet of Clay by Sébastien Boueilh, which denounced sexual assault in the world of rugby.
In addition, statistics prove that fewer men suffer violence linked to sexuality. A survey carried out by the National Institute of Demographic Studies reported that over the course of their lives 3.9% had had the sad experience compared to 14.5% of their female counterparts. Moreover, on average, 1 in 18 men are victims from the age of 15 at the hands of their partners, compared to 1 in 6 women. 17% of girls and 3% of boys are victims of attacks from from someone other than their partner.
With #MeTooBoys, the impact of male domination is once again revealed: in 90% of cases, men are attacked by adults or older men, 80% are attacked before the age of 18 and 50% between 0 and 10 years, in the family and close circle. If, however, they are more crude than women, many find it difficult to talk about it and take on average 20 years before being able to do so. Half of them don't.
For male victims, social construction is a huge obstacle. Because they are men, they would seek sexual relations more, can defend themselves more easily, cannot be attacked. Others didn't talk about it during the MeToo movement of 2017 because they didn't want to impose themselves or because they didn't feel like they belonged. They also have difficulty finding help: associations are sometimes specialized in helping with violence suffered in sports clubs or at church or seem specific to women. This is the case for “ Feminist collective against rape ”, “ Stop violence against women ” and “ SOS femmes ”. However, they are open to everyone.
In addition to having the strength to speak out, men also experience stigma from their male counterparts. They are victims of the same treatment as women. “ I'm taking a little courage to browse #MeTooGarcons and write down my few truths. At the age of 7, I was the victim of a man in a position of power and domination. Never has a woman denied or minimized the pain I expressed - The only ones who laughed about it are men ” wrote a user on X.
In 96% of cases, according to the latest report from the Ministry of the Interior on sexual violence outside the family, it is men who are implicated in this type of case. It is therefore not surprising that it is also men who mock and call into question the testimonies of those who speak about it publicly by minimizing their words or using homophobic remarks. Fortunately, they only represent a minority and many feminists and associations have affirmed their support for the victims. “ The scale of #Metooboys is due to the courage of the victims who spoke out and to massive support from women and feminists ,” tweeted environmentalist senator Laurence Rossignol. “ Friends have spoken out in recent days, and I find you very courageous! We believe you, I believe you! ” declared the president of Family Planning, Sarah Durocher.
To return to the world of cinema, from which everything started, the casting director, Stéphane Gaillard, announced on Instagram that he had created an email box metooacteur@gmail.com with the aim of helping the victims and collecting their testimonies.