荔枝视频

Why didn鈥檛 you run? How did you not fight back? Did you say no?

These are some of the questions often asked of survivors of sexual violence. And they can lead to judgement and even accusations of victim blaming. But as recent research shows, there are natural, scientifically validated reasons why victims don鈥檛 react the way we perceive they should.

鈥淎 lot of research is telling us that a severe traumatic event can cause major changes to the brain,鈥� says Carla Bertsch, the 荔枝视频 sexual violence support advocate. 鈥淲hen you become frightened you can lose the ability to do what you think you might or should do.鈥�

Bertsch is hosting an hour-long session called Trauma and Sexual Violence on Friday as part of Sex Week, hosted by the Students鈥� Union, the SU Wellness Centre and the Women鈥檚 Resource Centre. During her presentation, she鈥檒l draw from research by clinical psychologists and psychiatrists in the United States and Canada to explain the neurobiology of trauma.

The research shows that the old fight or flight response is more myth than reality. While humans, like other animals have responses to grave threats hardwired in their brains, the response to the threat of trauma is often to freeze or even black out. In the animal kingdom, this is essentially playing dead in the hope that a predator will lose interest and move on. But this does not work against human sexual predators.

When experiencing a traumatic event, the brain tends to become hyper-focused on small details related to survival and so simple questions about the time of day, the exact location and even the colour of the perpetrator鈥檚 hair aren鈥檛 recalled by the survivor because the victim honestly doesn鈥檛 remember those details.

This information is crucial for investigators who question sexual assault victims because it means they need to re-think their questions and how they interpret the answers, says Bertsch.

鈥淲hen an investigator asks a sexual assault victim what time of day the assault took place and the victim says she doesn鈥檛 know, it can sound like she鈥檚 not being truthful,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut 30 years later she鈥檒l still remember the smell of his breath or the deodorant the perpetrator was wearing. In the animal kingdom, that would help you avoid the predator in the future, but when it comes to sexual assault, it only adds to the torment of the survivor because that smell will instantly take you back to the horror of the incident.鈥�

According to Bertsch, the impacts of trauma can be felt in the brain, body and sense of self, and to work effectively with victims of sexual violence, police need a better understanding of brain circuitries affected by fear and trauma. 鈥淭here is a lot of new, emerging science on all of this and it can help us better understand a survivor鈥檚 behaviour after a traumatic incident. It can help investigators ask the right questions and better support survivors.鈥�

Carla Bertsch will present Trauma and Sexual Violence on Friday, Feb. 9 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Hamlet Room in Students鈥� Union Conference Rooms in Mac Hall. Admission is free.

 about Sex Week.  about the 荔枝视频鈥檚 sexual violence support services.