Le sentiment de honte chez les femmes victimes d’agression sexuelle pendant l’enfance : rôle de l’identité ethnique

Abstract

Child sexual abuse in women, which has serious repercussions on the victims, is widely spread in our society. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the fear of being victimised again and a low self-esteem are only a few of the consequences that have been documented. Even though there are numerous studies regarding victims of child sexual abuse, only a few have analyzed the role of culture in this matter. Some authors suggest that cultural factors and dynamics could influence how the sexual abuse is experienced by the victim and the consequences of it. Even though shame is common in victims of sexual abuse, it has not been sufficiently explored, especially from a cultural perspective. Shame is one of the reasons some victims will either delay the disclosure of their sexual abuse or simply never reveal it. However, to our knowledge, there are no studies that explore and compare in depth the feeling of shame in victims of sexual abuse of different cultural backgrounds and ethnicities. The aim of this article is to review the available empirical evidence on these notions, retrieved from different research fields, to explore the role that culture and more precisely ethnic identity, can play in sexual abuse experienced by women during childhood. More specifically, this paper will address child sexual abuse and its consequences, culture, ethnicity and ethnic identity, guilt, shame and how these concepts are interrelated. Further research on this subject will help develop better interventions adjusted to the different realities of the victims.