Thousands in France protest against ‘rape culture’

Thousands of people took to the streets of French cities on Saturday to demand an end to rape and support the chief prosecutor in a mass sexual abuse trial that has shocked the country.

FGisele Pelicot, who uses her married name, has requested that the trial against her ex-husband and 50 co-defendants be made public since September 2. She hopes to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit abuse.

Dominique Pelicot, his partner of nearly 50 years, has admitted that he drugged her for years to rape her and watched as she was raped unconscious by dozens of strangers he recruited online.

The case has shocked France, especially since many of the co-defendants are apparently ordinary men with ordinary jobs. Moreover, several suspects are still at large.

“We are all Gisele,” a large crowd chanted in the capital Paris.

“Rapist, we see you, victim, we believe you.”

In the southern city of Marseille, activists hung a banner outside the city’s courthouse, calling for the alleged perpetrators, not the victims, to be shamed.

“Shame must change sides,” it said, echoing the words of Gisele Pelicot herself, through one of her lawyers.

Justine Imbert, 34, came with her six-year-old daughter.

“It must have taken a lot of courage, but it was essential” that Gisele Pelicot asked for the trial to be made public, she said.

“This allows people to see the faces of her husband and the others, and see that they are not outsiders, but ‘good fathers’.”

74-year-old retiree Martine Ragon said she was also there to “denounce the culture of rape”, referring to an environment where sexual violence is normalised.

“The media attention to the trial gives us the opportunity to talk about it,” she said.

In the western city of Rennes, a young woman held up a sign with the phrase “protect your daughters” crossed out.

Instead it said, “Teach your son.”

In the central city of Clermont-Ferrand, 26-year-old farm worker Stephane Boufferet said he hopes Gisele Pelicot will get justice.

“When I read the story, I was disgusted. I was disgusted even to be a man,” he said.

The French film industry has been rocked in recent years by allegations of sexual abuse, including multiple accusations against screen legend Gerard Depardieu.

But the trial in the southern city of Avignon has drawn attention to rape in everyday society.

Among the protesters in Paris was Charlotte Arnould, an actress who accused Depardieu of raping her in 2018, when she was 22 and anorexic.

The 75-year-old actor has been charged with rape in the case since 2020. Last month, prosecutors demanded that he appear in court.

Protesters in the capital also included the author of a book condemning incest, Camille Kouchner, and MP Sandrine Josso, who last year accused a senator of drugging her with the aim of assaulting her.