LOIC VENANCE / AFP
French actor Aurélien Wiik testified Thursday February 22 that he was the victim of sexual assault in the context of his work. Since then, men have taken up #MetooGarçons.
#METOO – After Judith Godrèche for women, actor Aurélien Wiik frees men to speak. The 43-year-old actor, seen in Munch, revealed Thursday to have been the victim of pressure and sexual assault in the context of his profession, and hoped to collect other testimonies with the keyword “#MeTooBoys”. His wish was granted and hundreds of men are now using this hashtag on social networks to denounce the abuse they suffered under minors.
“I was abused when I was 3 to 4 years old by a predator, who has since died without any possibility of justice », revealed the LFI deputy of Loire-Atlantique Andy Kerbrat, on his X account (ex-Twitter), this Saturday February 24. Before continuing to address the victims, like him: “ You will achieve great things so keep expressing yourself. If you can, go to court. We don’t heal, but we repair ourselves. Together. »
“He was stronger than me. I did not file a complaint. »
In this new movement, it is not only public or well-known figures who have taken up #MeTooGarçons. On the contrary, it is mainly men from civil society who have appropriated the hashtag to testify. Mika is one of them, he says on X: “The first time, I was seven years old. It lasted a year. He was protected, and everyone lied for him. The second one, I was 28. I liked it. I said no, he said yes, he was stronger than me. I did not file a complaint. »
” I was 6. My cousin, 18 years old. In the family it was omerta. I never stopped feeling dirty and guilty for not having reacted”says Ramir Almeida, today a professor of musical education.
In a thread of messages, another Internet user recounts his first sexual experience, when at only 11 years old a man, 10 years his senior, asked him to masturbate ” in front of the camera “.
He also talks about his controlling relationship with his first love when he was only 17: “ I spent 5 months (…) being raped every day, it was my first time and today I am still trying to overcome the trauma[tisme]the daily humiliation he put me through and to regain confidence in myself”he admits painfully.
“Many men feel locked in their history”
Another very strong testimony, told by Sébastien Tüller, LGBTI+ manager for the NGO Amnesty International, which illustrates the fact that relationships of control can also affect people aware of the issue. “I was 21 years old and he was my first gay friend (…) For many, it was inconceivable that a “guy like me” could be abused by another guy without being able to react,” he wrote on X, and took the opportunity to add an awareness message: “ Non-consensual sexual intercourse is rape. It’s as simple as that, there are no gray areas”.
The social network X lists nearly 15,000 messages under this hashtag, which is among the most used keywords this weekend.
The #MeToo of men has all its importance in moving our society forward, judged this Sunday morning Violaine de Filippis, lawyer and spokesperson forDare Feminism! at the microphone of BFMTV. “There are many men who feel locked in their history, who do not dare to speak, particularly because of stereotypes,” she explains.
For the author of Dismissed: Women victims of violence in the face of justice, freedom of speech is more difficult for men than for women, particularly because of the education of little boys who “still grow up with the idea that we must not cry, that we must be dignified and courageous”.
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