The study “ Being victim in a postcolonial context » analyzes the links between violence, social vulnerabilities and historical legacies in Mayotte. Based on the analysis of 613 legal files, it reveals that nearly eight out of ten cases concern sexual violence and therefore questions the mechanisms of domination which structure situations of victimization.
Presentation of the study « Being victim in a postcolonial context: A quantitative study on power relations in Mayotte » (Being a victim in a postcolonial context: a quantitative study of power relations in Mayotte) was carried out in a hospital-university setting, in order to familiarize staff with academic research, its functions, its modalities and its applications. It explores in depth the mechanisms of victimization in the postcolonial Maoran context, based on the analysis of 613 judicial files monitored between 2020 and 2024.
Violence and sexual violence
The study adopts an interdisciplinary approach combining psychology, sociology, criminology and anthropology in order to examine the role of relationships of domination in situations of violence. It highlights an overwhelming predominance of sexual violence. These represent nearly 79% of cases, mainly rapes and sexual assaults. They mainly affect females (85.5%) and minors (77%), who are, on average, 16 years old. This overrepresentation of young girls highlights the vulnerability linked to gender and minority. Violence often occurs in asymmetrical relational configurations. Indeed, in nearly 70% of cases the alleged perpetrators occupy positions of authority in different capacities: family, statutory, economic, social, administrative, etc.
Vulnerable victims…
Heir to its colonial history, Maorese society appears strongly segmented according to administrative, ethnic and social criteria, which influence the processes of victimization, particularly according to place of birth. In Mayotte, where nearly one in two inhabitants is of foreign nationality (Insee, 2019), the origin of people structures both interpersonal and intergroup relations. The nature of the violence suffered differs in particular depending on origins: people born in Mayotte suffer more physical violence, while those born in the Comoros are more often victims of sexual violence.
This study shows that minors, particularly adolescent girls, are subject to fear, emotional numbness or absence of emotion, leading to difficulties in expression which also have an impact on the progress of legal operations. Recognition of the violence suffered and the obstacles to which the subgroups studied are subject, invites us to rethink the chain of collecting the words of victims as well as the training of professionals. Certain particularly vulnerable populations (minors in prostitution, adolescent girls forced into unions with adults or young people involved in violent territorial conflicts) deserve to be further studied.
Thus, the study « Being Victim in a postcolonial context » illustrates the convergences between social precariousness, relations of domination, post-colonial legacies and daily violence, in a territory both affected by structural inequalities and institutional failures which constrain both the expression of suffering and its consideration.
What solutions?
For the moment, the department of Mayotte does not have a route dedicated to supporting victims. The Association for the Status of Women and Victim Support (ACFAV-France Victimes 976) offers an adapted multidisciplinary system. However, it is not able to manage the entire flow of victims, proportionally greater than that of the mainland, particularly with regard to women and young girls (INSEE, 2022). Local associative actors (Haki Za Wanatsa, Mlezi Maore, etc.) welcome victims who request them, but do not have specifically trained professionals. Psychiatry and medical-psychological consultation services are facing major structural tensions which limit their treatment capacities, a phenomenon aggravated by the passage of Cyclone Chido in December 2024. To date, everything – or almost everything – remains to be done in Mayotte in terms of care pathways for victims of violence.
Elie LETOURNEUR, Doctor in psychology, Ph.D
– Chaussy C., Merceron S., In Mayotte, nearly one in two inhabitants is of foreign nationality, 2019, INSEE, https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/version-html/3713016/ip1737.pdf
– Dehon M., Grangé C., Merceron S., Thibault P., Women in Mayotte, 2022, Insee dossier Mayotte, n°3, https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/6472966/my_ind_03.pdf
