After sexual violence, survivors may experience intrusive fantasies from a perpetrator’s perspective. Outside clinical settings, this is rarely discussed. In trauma psychology, however, it is a known phenomenon: the internalization of the perpetrator’s stance, often described as "identification with the aggressor" or "perpetrator introjects". These experiences are *not* evidence of hidden desires. They are trauma symptoms — distortions produced by extreme boundary violation, fear, and coercion. ## Why this happens Sexual violence can fracture normal memory and meaning-making. To survive, the mind may adopt elements of the aggressor’s perspective — power, intent, or blame— as a defensive strategy. Later, these fragments can reappear as (lustful) intrusive images or fantasies, especially under stress or when cues resemble the original situation. A particularly vulnerable period can arise for mothers when their children reach an age similar to that at which the abuse occurred. At that point, suppressed memory fragments may resurface in distorted form, sometimes with sexualized affect. Shame and fear often intensify, which makes disclosure less likely. ## Why silence is harmful Because these thoughts feel taboo, many survivors do not speak about them. This silence is costly. It reinforces self-blame, increases isolation, and can escalate anxiety or compulsive avoidance. In rare cases, untreated distress can impair parenting confidence and increase fear of harming one’s children—despite there being no intent to do so. The problem is compounded when clinicians lack trauma-specific training and misinterpret the symptom, or avoid the topic altogether. ## Treatment works! Trauma-focused therapies can address this effectively. The clinical task is to: - identify the intrusive thoughts as trauma-derived, - separate them from intent or identity, - process the underlying traumatic memory, - and dissolve perpetrator introjects. ## Why public awareness matters Clear public information reduces shame and prevents re-victimization—internal and external. Survivors need to know that intrusive perpetrator-perspective fantasies are symptoms, not confessions. Naming this openly helps dismantle the enduring lie often implanted by abuse: “You wanted it.” Fantasies are symptoms—not intentions! And they don't need to be "managed" as a "dark desire" — they can be resolved. ## Some sources ### Intrusive sexual thoughts after trauma - **Riemer, K. et al. (2020)** *Sexual Trauma, Cognitive Appraisals, and Sexual Intrusive Thoughts and Their Subtypes: A Moderated Mediation Analysis* — shows that people with a history of sexual trauma report more distressing sexual intrusive thoughts and dysfunctional appraisals, linking trauma exposure to severity and distress of intrusive sexual cognitions. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32914249/ ### Identification with the aggressor — theoretical and empirical work - **Ferenczi (conceptual basis)** *Ferenczi’s concept of identification with the aggressor* explores how trauma can lead victims—especially children—to automatically absorb the perpetrator’s perspective as a psychological defense. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24603172/ - **Lahav et al. (2022)** *Identification With the Aggressor and Inward and Outward Aggression in Abuse Survivors* — finds that higher levels of identifying with the perpetrator’s experience and aggression are associated with inward and outward aggression among abuse survivors. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32659159/ - **Lahav, Talmon, Ginzburg & Spiegel (2019)** *Reenacting Past Abuse – Identification With the Aggressor and Sexual Revictimization* — shows components of identification with the aggressor relate to aspects of sexual revictimization beyond PTSD severity. https://cris.iucc.ac.il/en/publications/reenacting-past-abuseidentification-with-the-aggressor-and-sexual/ - **Lahav, Cloitre, Hyland et al. (2025)** *Complex PTSD and identification with the aggressor among survivors of childhood abuse* — evidence that identification with the aggressor contributes to PTSD/CPTSD symptom severity and may reflect deep trauma impact on self-representation. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39700595/