IN TRAUMA AND RECOVERY, THE PSYCHIATRIST JUDITH HERMANdistinguishes between traumatic events that are “natural disasters or ‘acts of God’” and those “of human design”. In the case of the former, she writes, “those who bear witness readily sympathise with the victim”.
When it comes to the latter, the situation is more complex. Here, taking the part of the victim is not a natural response. After all, Herman points out, “all the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil." By contrast, the victim “asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement, and remembering.”
Victims are difficult people. They disrupt the untroubled narratives we tell ourselves about the world we live in and the people we know. They tug at those threads that are supposed to remain untouched.
Nowhere is this more true than in the case of victims
