• Yvan Attal's film

    Human Things

    , which tackles the issue of consent

    ,

    has been in theaters since Wednesday.

  • This feature film addresses the story of an accusation of rape and prompts viewers to question the notions of consent, the denial of reality on the part of the aggressor, restorative justice or not ...

  • 20 Minutes 

    attended its screening at the cinema with the students of Sciences Po, at a time when the school has just adopted a new system to fight against gender-based and sexual violence.

Some came alone, others with their classmates. This Thursday evening, a hundred students from Sciences Po Paris were invited to the screening of the film

Les Choses Humaines

, by Yvan Attal, adapted from the novel by Karine Tuil. A feature film that tells the story of Mila Wiesman, who accuses Alexandre Farel of having raped her at the end of a student night. The latter, from the Parisian intellectual upper middle class, denies any forced sexual intercourse, repeating that the young woman would not have said "no". He ends up being indicted and tried.

The Arlequin cinema hall fills up very quickly, proof of the students' curiosity for this film.

And for good reason: this screening is part of a series of events organized by Sciences Po Paris as part of the new system for the fight against gender-based and sexual violence, set up at the start of the 2021 academic year. Because like all institutes of Political Studies (IEP), the school was shaken in February 2021 by the movement

#sciencesporcs: an influx of testimonies on Twitter to denounce the rapes and sexual assaults that took place in their schools.

The former director of the school, Frédéric Mion, was forced to resign in the process, for having concealed the suspicions of incest targeting the political scientist Olivier Duhamel, eminent teacher of the school.

"The gray area was invented by men to justify themselves"

Etienne, a 3rd year student, would not have missed this evening for the world. “I am considering a career in justice and I am necessarily interested in the treatment of sexual violence by the courts. And the fact that the aggressor in the film is a Stanford student, who feels a sense of power and domination, appeals to me. All the grandes écoles, and not only at Sciences Po, can be affected by cases of sexual violence ”. A few rows away from him, Clara, a master's student in public affairs, settles down. “I read the book and found it very accurate. Because the aggressor does not understand that what he has committed is rape. It is important that the school makes us aware of these issues. Moreover, since the start of the school year, there is compulsory training for all students on consent,harassment and the risk of sanctions in the event of sexual violence, ”she explains.

But no time to discuss further, the new director of Sciences Po, Mathias Vicherat, takes the floor and sets the tone for the evening.

“The gray area was invented by men to justify themselves,” he says, before recalling that the fight against gender-based and sexual violence will be “a priority” of his mandate.

At the start of the school year, the rue Saint-Guillaume school set up a new local system to support victims, through the presence of relay nurses on each campus, an outsourced listening service, a referent for gender-based and sexual violence ...

"I have the impression that things are changing in your generation"

Now it's time for the film. During the session, several students get up and leave the room. Were streaks unbearable for them? Certain dialogues of the film remain in memory, like "Who does not say a word does not consent, but suffers". At the end of the film, the room remains silent for a long time. Clara does not regret coming: "I think this film can change the too restricted perception that people sometimes have of rape and provoke real reflection, especially among men".

Etienne also comes out with thoughts in his head: "The aggressor is condemned, but not to prison.

Which causes reactions.

Because we idealize justice when it is not always restorative for the victim ”.

Mélissa, freshly graduated from Sciences Po, has only one regret: “I think that the students who saw the film already felt concerned by the theme.

But those who would really need to question themselves did not come, and it is really difficult to reach them ”.

"Replacing one violence with another will not be progress"

It's time for the round table, in which Karine Tuil, Yvan Attal, but also Julie Fabreguettes, lawyer at the Paris Bar, and Geneviève Fraisse, philosopher of feminist thought, participate. The opportunity for them to address the notion of consent, the legal definition of rape, the difficulty for a victim to file a complaint, the denial of the crime by the aggressor… In the room, some students are impatiently waiting to speak .

“What is sad is that we come to educate men not to rape us.

Women evolve in mistrust of them.

We are surrounded by sexual assailants.

How can we harm them in turn?

One of them asks.

“Replacing one violence with another will not be social progress,” Julie Fabreguettes replied.

Karine Tuil also tries to give him some hope: "I have the impression that things are changing in your generation".

"It is not for us to educate men"

Another student speaks: “The rapes are mostly committed by a person close to the victim. It is not for us to educate men, we have reached a very strong point of exasperation, ”she says angrily. A student, member of SOS homophobia, replied: “When I intervene in a school environment, I deconstruct prejudices. Because it is only through dialogue that we will be able to live in a world of respect ”.

Out of the room, Etienne also wants to believe in possible progress: “By dint of talking about this subject, mentalities will change.

The governance of grandes écoles has also evolved on these issues in recent years ”.

"The psychological and legal support of victims by schools has improved a lot since #Sciencesporcs", also comments Mélissa.

And despite the cold, the students stay a long time in front of the cinema to debrief the film and the debate.

Too many emotions and thoughts in mind.

Society

#SciencesPigs: "One of the ways to act against sexual violence is better education on consent"

Society

#SciencesPorcs: "The large schools absolutely do not want to put the subject of sexual violence under the carpet"

  • Student

  • Political science

  • Violence against women

  • Rape

  • Movie theater

  • Society

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