Joining forces in solitude: Narratives of violence and collective self-reconstruction in a digital group for “Hikikomori” people

This article discusses how the Japanese word hikikomori has been reinterpreted by a French digital association to translate a feeling of loneliness. Beyond this, this notion serves as a critical tool to denounce society’s broader failure to support victims of abuse, particularly childhood and sexual violence. Through this word, the members of the association give voice to the multiple alienating forms of violence they have endured—experiences that led them to seek refuge in what they see as a necessary and restorative form of solitude. By coming together in a digital space, these individuals are trying to establish new modes of interaction, free from oppression.