Rapports d’âge et vulnérabilités aux violences. Le cas des hommes ayant subi des violences sexuelles dans l’enfance

Abstract

Based on the quantitative analysis of the Virage survey and the biographical interviews carried out with some respondents, this article offers an analysis of age relation at play when boys are exposed to sexual violence before the age of 18. Situations of violence illustrate the domination of adult men or older males, who benefit from age related to status differences linked to age and the power associated with different life course positions compared to boys. These power relations are part of family and social structures that promote violence, support it and the silence that surrounds it. Finally, the article shows that age relations are multidimensional, intertwined with gender and encourage violence and practice of silencing of boys who experience it. They constitute factors of vulnerability for boys who experience sexual violence in childhood.

Keywords

• sexual abuse
• boys
• age relation
• gender-based violence
• silencing
• continuum of violence