As the survivor faces one of her attackers during legal proceedings, what shifts have taken place within the country?
The nation's survivor of multiple assaults, Gisèle Pelicot, is reappearing before the judiciary at the start of the week to confront a perpetrator found guilty, the lone defendant who is challenging the prior year's court decision in which a group of 51 individuals were sentenced for attacking her as she was, under the influence, administered by her partner in their family home.
Back then, Madame Pelicot's defiant public stance was viewed as a potential trigger in the battle against assault. But in France, that hope looks to be diminishing.
"I am going to harm you unless you depart immediately," threatened a individual standing outside a historic church in the community, the charming locale where the couple had their home.
He happened to hear me questioning an older lady about the impact of the legal proceedings on France and, while promising to break our equipment too, was now clarifying that the locality was tired of being connected to one of the world's most notorious sexual assault cases.
Several days prior, the mayor of Mazan had put forth a gentler version of the same argument, in a official announcement that depicted Gisèle Pelicot's extended trauma as "a personal situation… that has no connection to our community."
It is easy to comprehend Mayor Louis Bonnet's desire to defend the locality's standing and its tourism industry. Yet it should be pointed out that a previous period, he'd garnered attention throughout the country after he'd repeatedly informed me, in an conversation, that he sought to "downplay" the severity of the individual's trauma because "there were no fatalities", and no children were involved.
Furthermore it is important to observe that almost all the women we were able to interview in the town in the past few days did not share the official's wish to view the legal matter as, mainly, something to "leave behind."
Smoking a cigarette in a shaded doorway not far from the church, a public employee in her thirties, who gave her name as the individual, spoke with undisguised bitterness.
"No-one talks about it anymore, within this community. It seems like it never occurred. I am aware of an individual suffering from family abuse right now. Yet ladies keep it secret. They are scared of the individuals who do these things," she stated, adding that she was "certain" that more of the assailants remained undetected, and unapprehended, in the area.
Moving through the area past a couple of cats enjoying the warmth, another resident, elderly, was similarly willing to discuss, but held an opposing perspective of the Pelicot case.
"Globally things are changing. The country is advancing." With Madame Pelicot's help? "Absolutely. It has given impetus, for women to speak freely," she informed me, with conviction.
Nationwide, there is certainty that the coverage generated by Gisèle Pelicot's internationally transmitted resolve that "shame should change sides" - from the assaulted to the assailant – has supplemented the drive to a effort targeting sexual violence previously invigorated by the social initiative.
"In my opinion altering conduct is something that needs a long time. [But] the Pelicot case triggered a huge, historic mobilisation… against sexual violence, and fighting exemption from punishment," remarked an activist, who oversees a network of 50 feminist organisations in the nation. "Our attention is on training professionals, assisting survivors, on examinations."
"Yes, France has changed. The [number of] complaints of rapes has grown significantly, showing that victims – women and girls – they speak up and they seek legal recourse," concurred Céline Piques, spokesperson for the organization "Osez le féminisme".
Nonetheless, the energy and optimism that overwhelmed the survivor last December, as she emerged from the Avignon courthouse and into a group of backers, have not brought about many substantive changes to the way the authorities handles the matter of abuse.
Actually, there is a near consensus among advocates and professionals that conditions are, rather, declining.
"Regrettably, authorities are unresponsive," said the spokesperson, highlighting statistics showing that numbers of guilty verdicts are stagnating notwithstanding a sharp rise in instances of abuse.
"The picture is bleak. There is opposition. Beliefs enabling abuse are returning with force. This is evident in the masculinist movement gaining traction, particularly among adolescent males," continued the activist,
