Sexual predators, abuse of power and silence

Sexual predators are not sick, they are not sex addicts, nor do they live only in the upper echelons of Hollywood.. The predator’s brain haunts any of our contexts and uses, above all, its position of power to subdue the victim, seeking the complicity of a social framework accustomed to looking the other way.

We could say, almost without fear of being wrong, that we are living in a very interesting moment from a social and psychological point of view. A moment for many, expected and even necessary. After the case of film producer Harvey Weinstein was uncovered, the media shock wave does not seem to stop. Every day we wake up with another famous name, an idol that fallsa terrible history of sexual abuse and detractors who warn that what is happening simply does not make sense.

“And all this now, for what? What are they looking for?” some ask. We often hear testimonies of events that occurred more than 10, 15 or 20 years ago. The veil seems to have fallen regardless of the time that has passed, because the wound, of course, remains latent. It is now that a reality that has always been known, but structurally silenced and implicitly consented to, begins to come to light.

However, we must remember that the voices have always been there, but we did not give them importance, such as that of Elijah Wood, who already denounced the existence of constant abuse of minors in the back rooms of Hollywood.

It’s time, that simple, that clear. Our society is awake and ready to listen. Our world is more receptive than ever, it is connected and social networks, like Twitter, can raise heroes in a few days and tear down idols in seconds. It is a voracious scene that mobilizes, raises awareness and where in recent days, thanks to the hastag #MeToo, It has allowed us to visualize situations that, because they are difficult, could seem extraordinary (or, rather, extra-everyday), when in reality they happen every day. The victims, women and girls for the mere fact of being victims.

The “disease” of sexual predators is their position of power

Every morning, when a new story related to a Hollywood celebrity comes to light, the term “sexual predator” appears. In the world of information, expressions and words are frequently used that need to be defined to avoid misunderstandings. In fact, just a few weeks ago an interesting article appeared in the “Psychology Today” space where we were warned of something important, We should not relate this profile of abusers to sex addicts.

Read Also: It's just that I am like this: an excuse not to change

We say this for a very specific reason. Every time a celebrity is accused, his lawyer soon announces that his client will be admitted to a clinic for supposed treatment. This is what, for example, Kevin Spacey has stated.

We must not make mistakes. Those who abuse are not always sick. When they sexually assault, when they intimidate and coerce, they know well what they are doing. Actually, They use their power to violate the personal and sexual rights of other people.

To understand the impact of that power, we will talk, for example, about what was the origin of all this serial of scandals. In fact, and as a curiosity, many title this story as the “story of a son who denounced his father and uncovered an entire system of corruption”. This specific son is Ronan Farrow, the son of Mía Farrow and Woody Allen.

He was little more than a teenager when he witnessed how society looked the other way when the fact that His father abused Dylan, his adoptive sister who was only 7 years old.. One of the people who managed to clean up the image of his father and return him to fame in a pristine manner was precisely Harvey Weinstein.

Young Ronan was marked (as was his sister) by all that. He was shocked by how society is capable of transforming the aggressor into a victim and the victim into someone disturbed. He was impressed by the secrecy that existed in Hollywood around sexual assaults and acts of pedophilia committed by men of great power in this industry. An industry also accustomed to remaining silent, being complicit and using blackmail, threats and extortion to anyone who dared to raise their voice..

Read Also: From selfishness to self-love according to Aristotle

Since then, Ronan Farrow did not stop investigating and accumulating information about various sexual predators in Hollywood, until little by little he focused the epicenter on just one, Harvey Weinstein. It should be said that years ago he had enough information to bring the facts to light, with evidence and testimonies. However, he always found the same message from newspapers, production companies and television stations: That’s dangerous, forget it, turn the page, let’s look the other way.

Until now. Until society has already refused to turn its face.

Characteristics of sexual predators

Sexual predators appear in any context in which there are power asymmetries . We find them in our jobs, training sports groups, as deans in universities or as teachers, as team leaders in hospitals… They are people capable of crossing the border of respect to attack, violate or simply intimidate through words.

Likewise, it is interesting to delve a little deeper into their personality and behavioral characteristics:

Desire for control: Most of us know that our freedom ends when we invade the personal space and physical or emotional integrity of another person. However, the sexual predator enjoys crossing that limit and subduing, the pleasure is immense when he has control and enough power to subdue the victim’s refusals.Narcissism: Sexual predators consider themselves superior, especially to their victims. They think that only they have the ability to make decisions; On the other hand, if they want something, the natural thing for them is that reality makes it easier for them, regardless of what the other person says, thinks or desires.They are antisocial. This trait may be contrary to what we might intuit from the outside, but it is at the same time illuminating in this profile. In this case, being antisocial does not mean avoiding society. On the contrary, the sexual predator adapts to his environment perfectly, but with a very specific goal: to achieve what he wants. They are people who like risk, and who, in turn, do not empathize with anyone.Sex as possession. Sexuality in this type of profile is something very primitive. There is no love, there is no respect, only a mere desire to possess what one wants to vent a sexual drive and thus reaffirm its power.

To conclude, as we see, The term “sexual predator”, far from being new or limited exclusively to the world of Hollywood, It refers to many of those profiles that little by little are running out of masks. However, they will continue to exist and will have it much easier as long as they have the complicity, in the form of silence, of the environment.

Maybe this is the best time to give them a name, to give them a face and stop looking elsewhere. We have lived for too long in fear of those in power; there are thousands of victims who are forced to remain silent and forget. Let’s avoid this, let’s be sensitive, let’s be logical and stop sexual predators in time.