The term “stunned” is increasingly used to refer to the lack of reaction or immobility of some victims during a rape or sexual assault. But the scientific explanation was not yet known. Researchers have just made a neurological hypothesis. The immobility, certainly involuntary, could be explained by the blocking of the cerebral circuits in reaction to an acute threat, according to an article published Monday in the newspaper Nature.
For the authors, Ebani Dhawan and Patrick Haggard, researchers at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (University College London), understanding the neuroscientific mechanisms underlying this phenomenon would prevent victims from being unjustly blamed for their lack of reaction.
Blocked brain circuits
The legal definitions of rape and sexual assault are based on the absence of consent. However, proving consent or the absence of consent is difficult, they point out. Victims of rape and sexual assault often describe that they “froze” in response to the assault and therefore were unable to act, but neuroscientific evidence in this area is limited, the authors continue. .
They argue that immobility in response to extreme threat is likely unintentional. They explain it by a known response of the brain faced with a threat: in front of the aggressor, the cerebral circuits which ensure the voluntary control of the movements of the body are blocked.
A reaction linked to immediate and serious threats
According to them, immediate and serious threats can thus involuntarily trigger a state of immobility in humans, as in certain other animals. They recall that 70% of women who went to the emergency room after a rape or sexual assault recognized a “tonic immobility” during the act, while describing a strong desire to escape but an inability to do so.
This reaction remains a scientific hypothesis, recognize the authors, since their argument is based on testimonies of victims and studies of defense circuits in animals, which are common to humans.