“It's appalling the violence I'm experiencing,” says Geneviève Morin to TLMEP
Julien Lacroix's ex-spouse Geneviève Morin was at “Everyone the world is talking about it” on Sunday, November 20.
The ex-spouse of Julien Lacroix, singled out for sexual assault, offered this Sunday, to Everyone talks about it, a plea against online violence as part of the movement of denunciation of sexual misconduct which seems, according to her, to take a more radical tangent.
Geneviève Morin was present on the set of Guy A. Lepage to react to the investigation Scars and regrets of journalists Isabelle Hachey, of La Presse, and Marie-Ève Tremblay, from 98.5 FM, who caused a lot of ink to flow. The journalists were by his side as well as Jenny Charest, director of the Center d'aide aux victims d’crimes (CAVAC).
In the joint investigation, published last week, Ms Morin, who has been in a relationship for six years with Julien Lacroix, said she regretted having been considered the main victim among nine women who accused the comedian of sexual misconduct in 2020 and to have emerged more weakened from this stormy period, feeling dispossessed of her own history.
The violent people's tribunal< /strong>
Ms. Morin explained in an interview that she had the impression, in 2020, of participating in a movement to stop the violence. “There was an urgency to speak out against the violence,” she said. It was to stand up straight for myself. I felt like I was speaking with strength in numbers, not just for my own story.
In response to a post from Hugo Dumas online, since removed, saying that the career by Julien Lacroix had been swept away by revenge activism and immense popular pressure, this is not what we should remember, believes Geneviève Morin, who rather remembers having spoken in a movement against violence and having stood right.
“We see the tip of the iceberg of online violence,” she says, saying she is chained to her story with her ex-spouse. Looking back, noting all the violence that is generated by the excesses of a movement denouncing violence, “I am not proud that this is the result,” she lamented. “It’s a movement, so it moves; there he may be moving in another direction, which is confrontational and hard to hear, but there have been overreactions. It is appalling, the violence that I am experiencing, that Julien has experienced, that all those who have denounced or have been denounced are experiencing. It takes on dimensions that go beyond the personal story that happened. ”
She also recalls the benefits of having met Julien Lacroix to talk about what happened. “I looked him in the eye and heard the words that made me feel good: 'I'm sorry', 'I understand' and 'I never wanted to'. made it possible to stop seeing it as an abuser and an abused person, but I saw a human and someone who made mistakes.”
Turning to resources
Ms. Charest from CAVAC explained that it is common for victims to change their perception over time. “It is not to have denounced the problem, it is the rest. The person sees that there are more impacts than they would have liked at the start.
From left to right: Isabelle Hachey, Marie-Ève Tremblay, Geneviève Morin and Jenny Charest to “Everyone is talking about it”. Photo: Courtesy of ICI Radio-Canada
Yes, she acknowledges, there will be a risk that fewer women will denounce violence and speak out in the future following the investigation by La Presse >. “We are afraid that the feeling of being believed no longer exists. It is important to think about how to denounce. The important thing is that people turn to the right people, the right resources for them.”
Because, in addition to the justice system, there are a host of resources to help people, she said. “Even with a specialized tribunal, for some people the best option will not be to file a complaint. In CAVACs, people's needs are assessed. Before denouncing on social networks, be accompanied, because people experience consequences and they need support to deal with these consequences. You have to go to the resources to talk. »
New kind of investigation
Mrs. Hachey, columnist at La Presse, explained that she discovered during her interviews with women who have reported sexual behavior in 2020 discomfort related to the whole process surrounding a report.
Marie-Eve Tremblay, of 98.5 FM, indicated having received messages from people who judge the light of their investigation important, but who would not dare to expose it in the public square, for fear of being placed on the side of the aggressors.
The #MeToo denunciation movement is very recent, five years, recalls Isabelle Hachey, it launched a new kind of investigation. ” As journalists, we have to ask ourselves questions about the consequences, the risks of slippage that this kind of investigation can cause. “
