Women's Rights & Issues
Related: About this forumThe Rape Trial That Could Change France - WSJ
A trial that has shocked France took a dramatic turn this week. Gisèle Pélicot, 71, has accused her former husband of 50 years of drugging and raping her and recruiting strangers online to sexually assault her while she was unconscious in their bedroom. On Oct. 23 she arrived at the Avignon courthouse, to the cheers of supporters, and took the stand for the first time since her deposition in September.
Ive been told that Im brave. But its not bravery, she declared. Its having the will and determination to change society.
By coming forward and insisting on a public trial, Gisèle Pélicot has forced a national reckoning over sexual violence in France. Since the proceedings began last month, thousands of people have taken to the streets chanting We Are All Gisèle in protest against rape culture. Artists have painted murals of Pélicot and tagged walls with the phrases Dont Put Me to Sleep and Death to Patriarchy. Public intellectuals and elected officials have published editorials and petitions and more than 200 men have proposed a road map to put an end to masculine domination.
Dominique Pélicot, a 71-year-old retiree living in the village of Mazan, has pleaded guilty to inviting seemingly ordinary men to sexually violate his heavily sedated wife for nearly a decade. Police identified over 80 suspects but found and charged only 50 of them, all filmed and photographed by Pélicot himself.
These men, ages 26 to 74, come from diverse backgrounds, but most are gainfully employed, and many are married with children. As locals have noted, they represent a sample of French society. They are your next-door neighbor, your Monsieur Tout-Le-Monde, your average Joe.
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niyad
(120,353 posts)all those rapists rot in hell.
There are almost no words to express my admiration for Gisele's courage and determination.
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Stargazer99
(2,972 posts)away from but society run by men won't do that to help women
Beringia
(4,607 posts)jfz9580m
(15,542 posts)What fucking century do these guys live in?
These arguments have highlighted the perplexing fact that the definition of rape in French law does not mention consent. Rape was traditionally seen as a crime against the honor of a womans family, against her father or husband, rather than a violation of her own dignity.
Seriously wtf? How dated is this shit? A crime against the honor of the womans family? Crime against the father or husband? When was this shit even drafted? How is consent by the woman not the primary if not only factor? Clear, unambiguous and explicit consent at that?
Good fucking god. It is shocking that these bloody dated laws exist apparently on every part of the planet. In India for instance I think it was only in 2022 (at least the article I saw was from 2022) they got rid of the infamous 2-finger test. And India has pretty progressive abortion laws so inspite of a lot of violence against women, there has also been progress legally wrt womens rights. And China has had its own MeToo recently.
This shit needs to go away in every part of the world.
Bloody barbaric
Good for Gisele. She is fucking awesome.
But systems also have to offer women the opportunity to fight back against this stuff anonymously.
You shouldnt have to sacrifice your anonymity because of someone elses predatory crimes. It is not about shame. Some people are naturally very protective of their privacy. I post here frequently about privacy because it is important to me. That is why I am here and not on social media. I am pretty introverted irl.
It adds a layer of added violation when women cannot have control over their own privacy in order to be safe from predatory and harassing men. It should be up to the victim whether to give up their anonymity or not. And the victim should not have to undergo more violation and stress to prove there was a crime. There are other ways in which due process can take place.
littlemissmartypants
(25,660 posts)Also of note...
February 5, 2013
On January 31, Frances minister of womens rights made if officially impossible to arrest a woman for wearing pants in Paris, the Telegraph reports. Previously, the law required women to ask police for special permission to dress as men. If fashionable French ladies ignored this rule, they risked being taken into custody.
The rule originally came into being just after the French Revolution, in the early 19th century. As anyone who watched Les Miserables will recall, rebellious ladies often donned pants in defiance of the bourgeoisie. This anti pants-wearing movement was dubbed sans-culottes, or without the knee-breeches (cullottes) of the high class.
In 1892, the legislation changed to allow women to wear pants only if she is holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse. That latest ordinance stayed in place until today, despite multiple attempts to get rid of it. Officials said the unenforced rule as not a problem so they didnt want to waste time amending legal archaeology.
But politicians last July argued of the laws symbolic importance and its potential impact on modern perspectives surrounding womens rights. The minister then got on board, declaring:
This ordinance is incompatible with the principles of equality between women and men, which are listed in the Constitution, and in Frances European commitments.
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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/parisian-women-legally-allowed-to-wear-pants-for-the-first-time-in-200-years-11848690/?origin=serp_auto