🔗 Share this article While Gisèle Pelicot faces an individual attackers during legal proceedings, what has changed in France? Throughout a ten-year period, the survivor's partner sedated her and allowed other men to come to their home and violate her while she was unaware. France's mass rape victim, the woman at the center of the case, is heading back to the courtroom at the start of the week to face a perpetrator found guilty, the lone defendant who is challenging the judicial outcome from the previous year in which a group of 51 individuals were found guilty of assaulting her as she lay, drugged, due to her spouse in their family home. Back then, Madame Pelicot's defiant public stance was seen as a potentially catalytic moment in the struggle with assault. Yet within the country, that positive outlook appears to be wilting. "I will attack you should you remain here," growled a individual located by a historic church in Mazan, the scenic area where the individuals once lived. He happened to hear me asking an elderly woman about the influence of the legal proceedings on the nation and, while vowing to damage our camera too, was now explaining that the community was weary of being connected to one of the internationally recognized legal proceedings for assault. One local resident thinks that the proceedings has helped women express themselves openly. Several days prior, the local official had issued a gentler version of the similar perspective, in a public statement that portrayed the survivor's extended trauma as "a private matter… that has no relevance to our town." One may appreciate the leader's desire to safeguard the community's image and its tourism industry. However it is important to recognize that a year earlier, he'd garnered attention throughout the country after he'd repeatedly informed me, in an discussion, that he wanted to "minimize" the severity of the survivor's experiences because "there were no fatalities", and no children were involved. It is also worth noting that almost all the women we were able to interview in the community in the past few days did not share the leader's intention to see the Pelicot case as, mainly, something to "move beyond." Lighting up in a covered entryway close to the church, a 33-year-old civil servant, who provided the name the resident, spoke with open resentment. "It is not a topic of conversation, even here in Mazan. It's as if it never happened. I am acquainted with a person suffering from family abuse currently. But women hide it. They're afraid of the men who commit these acts," she stated, adding that she was "certain" that further Gisèle Pelicot's rapists were still at large, and free, in the area. Moving through the area near a few sunbathing cats, another resident, in her late sixties, was similarly willing to discuss, but took a different view of the Pelicot case. "Society is progressing. France is evolving." Due to the survivor's actions? "Certainly. It has provided encouragement, for women to express themselves openly," she informed me, with conviction. Throughout the nation, there is little question that the publicity spawned by the survivor's worldwide shared determination that "shame should change sides" - from victim to rapist – has provided added momentum to a effort targeting abuse earlier activated by the social initiative. "From my perspective modifying actions is something that takes generations. [But] the proceedings ignited a huge, historic mobilisation… against sexual violence, and fighting exemption from punishment," said an activist, who oversees a alliance of 50 feminist organisations in the country. "We're focused on training professionals, supporting victims, on investigations." "Yes, France has changed. The cases of abuse has grown significantly, demonstrating that victims – women and girls – they speak up and they want justice," agreed an advocate, representative of the organization "Osez le féminisme". Nonetheless, the drive and positivity that overwhelmed Gisèle Pelicot last December, as she emerged from the judicial building and into a group of backers, have failed to result in many meaningful reforms to the manner the national government tackles the matter of assault. The town's leader, the community where the rapes took place, has made an announcement saying the incidents have "no connection to our community". In fact, there is a widespread understanding among activists and specialists that things are, instead, deteriorating. "Regrettably, authorities are unresponsive," said the spokesperson, citing data showing that rates of successful prosecutions are stagnating despite a notable surge in reported rape cases. "The outlook is grim. There is resistance. Notions supporting assault are returning with force. This is evident in the men's rights activism rising in popularity, particularly among adolescent males," added the coordinator,