Gisèle Pelicot again faces one of her rapists in court again

The victim of mass rape of France, Gisèle Pelicot, returned on Monday in court to face one of his attackers, the only man who appealed against the verdict of last year’s trial in which a total of 51 accused was found guilty of having raped her as she was drugged by her husband, in their family home.

At the time, Madame Pelicot’s provocative public position was considered a potentially catalytic moment in the fight against sexual violence. But in France, this optimism seems withered.

“I’m going to crush your head if you don’t leave now,” growled a man standing in front of a medieval church in Mazan, the picturesque city where Gisele and Dominique lived once.

He just heard me asked for an elderly woman on the impact of the Pelicot case on France and, while threatening to destroy our camera, now explained that the city was tired of being linked to one of the most notable rape trials.

A few days earlier, the mayor of Mazan had published a softer version of the same argument, in a public declaration which described the test of the years of Gisèle Pelicot as “a private affair … which has nothing to do with us”.

We can understand the desire of the mayor Louis Bonnet to protect the reputation of his city and his tourism industry. But it seems to be noted that a year earlier, he had made the headlines through France after he said, twice, in an interview, that he wanted to “play” the gravity of the Gisèle Pelicot trials because “no one was killed”, and no children was involved.

It should also be noted that almost all the women we talked about in Mazan last week did not share the mayor’s desire to see the case of Pelicot as, mainly, something to “go beyond”.

Smoking a cigarette in a shaded door not far from the church, a 33 -year -old official, who gave his name as Aurélie, spoke with an uncatfed bitterness.

“No one is talking about it anymore, even here in Mazan. It is as if it had never happened. I know someone who suffers from domestic violence at the moment.

Walking nearby after a few sun cats, Aurore Baralier, 68, was just as eager to speak, but adopted a different vision of the Pelicot affair.

“The world is evolving. France is evolving.” With the help of Madame Pelicot? “Yes. It was a boost, for women to speak freely,” she said forcefully.

Through France, there is no doubt that the advertising generated by the determination of the Gisèle Pelicot global dissemination that “shame should change the sides” – from the victim to the rapist – has given an additional dynamic to a campaign against sexual violence already energized by the Metoo movement.

“I would say that changing behavior is something that takes generations. (But) The Pelic affair has sparked enormous historical mobilization … against sexual violence and impunity,” said Alyssa Ahrabare, who coordinates a network of 50 feminist organizations in France. “We focus on training professionals, support for victims, surveys.”

“Yes, France has changed. The (number) of rape complaints has tripled, showing that victims – women and girls – they are expressed and want justice,” said Céline Piques, spokesperson for the NGO “dose being a feminist”.

And yet, the energy and optimism that engulfed Gisèle Pelicot last December, while it emerged from the Avignon courthouse and in a fray of supporters, has not led to many substantial changes to the way the French state addresses the question of sexual violence.

Indeed, there is a quasi-consoisus among activists and experts that things are deteriorating rather.

“Unfortunately, the government does not react,” said Céline Pikes, pointing to statistics showing that conviction rates are a sharp increase in reported rape cases.

“The image is dark. There is a reaction.

In the midst of a financial and political crisis in France, with a surveys’ public debt, and the country with five prime ministers in the past two years, the government has firmly defended its file, claiming that it had made “decisive” changes, including expenses tripled in this area in the past five years – an “unprecedented” increase.

However, a scathing report of the Senate this summer concluded that the government “lacked a strategic compass”, with regard to the fight against rape and other forms of sexual violence. The Council of Europe was also very critical of France recently to protect women.

A well -placed source told us that even the data on the number of rapes reported in France were not reliable due to too complex bureaucracy.

Sometimes a new one will offer another little optimism shock.

In Dijon, a 60 -year -old man accused of having drugged his wife so that others raped her, was arrested in August after a man, invited to participate, later called the police, having doubted “his consent”.

The lawyer for the alleged victim Marie-Christine Klepping told us that she was “sure” that knowledge of the Pelicot affair and the fear of being taken in something similar, had provoked this telephone call.

In May, the star of French cinema Gérard Depardieu was found guilty of having sexually assaulted two women in what many lawyers and activists praised as an important blow against a largely perceived culture of impunity allowing powerful men to mistreat women.

“It could mean something,” said Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon to the BBC, “because he was very protected, (even) by President Macron”, who seemed to defend the actor at a given time. Ms. Tuaillon-Hibon is a lawyer based in Paris who had already been involved in the pursuit of Depardieu.

“I do not think that the trial (pelicot) has changed anything at the level of the police and the judiciary,” said Emmanuelle Rivier, a lawyer who also specializes in rape affairs. She cited the chronic sub-personnel, as well as a lack of police training and specialization.

And now, Gisèle Pelicot herself returns to the courts of the southern city of Nîmes to face one of the men found guilty of having raped her.

“She feels that she must be there and is responsible for being there until the procedure is completely finished,” said her lawyer, Stéphane Babonneau.

The real impact of his decision to give up his right to anonymity may not be clear for many years, but lawyer Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon is not inclined to be optimistic.

“It has changed certain things. But in fact very little,” she concluded, comparing sexual violence in France to a “war waged against women and children every day”.

“We still have a lot of changes to (do).”

I asked her if she was surprised that the case of Pelicot had not had a deeper impact.

“No. Not at all surprised because, well, it is France. The culture of rape is something deeply rooted in our society. And until it is taken into consideration seriously as a question of public policy, that will not change.”

With additional reports from Marianne Baisnee