‘Mission: Impossible’ Star Emmanuelle Béart Reveals She Was Sexually Abused by Family Member: ‘I Am Not a Victim’

Emmanuelle Béart, a French actress who acted in 1996 Mission Impossiblerevealed in a new documentary that she survived childhood sexual abuse.

Béart, 60, co-directed Such a resounding silencea documentary in which she shares her personal story along with four other incest survivors, three women and one man.

According to BBC News and The Guardian, the documentary (which will air on the French channel on September 24) had a press screening in Paris on Tuesday, although Béart did not attend.

The actress says in the documentary, according to the British edition Time, that a family member — whom she does not identify — abused her for four years until her parents and friends noticed. She described incidents of assault that took place when she was 11 years old, according to the media outlet.

Béart’s grandmother eventually “saved” her, the actress recalled. “If my grandmother hadn’t intervened, if she hadn’t put me on the train to go live with my father when I was 15, I don’t know if I could have survived,” she said.

BBC News reported that her co-director Anastasia Mikova said the alleged attacker was not Béart’s father, singer Guy Béart, who died in 2015 at the age of 85.

Emmanuelle Béart.

Daniele Venturelli/Getty

Béart also did an interview with Ella France, explaining why she decided to share her story now and why she didn’t press charges sooner. She said, translated into English, that childhood sexual abuse is a “phenomenon of incredible magnitude” and that “every story is unique.”

“I am not a victim and this is not a film about victims. It is a film about beings who were victims and who are fighting. I consider that I have lived my life, but yes [incest] never leaves you; it never goes away. You can run whatever you want, create, become a mother, have a fantastic job,” said Béart, trans Time.

Emmanuelle Béart.

Sylvain Lefevre/Getty

According to RAINN (National Rape, Abuse and Incest Network), 1 in 9 girls and 1 in 20 boys under the age of 18 experience sexual abuse or assault. Additionally, it is estimated that 34 percent of abusers in child sexual abuse cases are family members.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the crisis line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education