Thousands of people took to the streets in major French cities against violence targeting women as the case of a 71-year-old woman came in limelight this year, who was raped by nearly 50 men for years.
France mass rape trial entered the final stage this week. In the coming week, the prosecutors will ask the court in the southern city of Avignon to sentence 51 men, including the one who drugged his wife for over a decade and dozens of others who accepted his invitations to abuse her at their home.
“The more of us there are, the more visible we are, this is everyone’s business, not just women,” Peggy Plou, a local elected official from the Indre-et-Loire region in western France who had made the trip to Paris, said during the protest.
Thousands of people marched in Paris, mainly women but including some men and children too.
Moreover, hundreds of strong demonstrations were also held in other major cities of France including Marseille in the south, Lille in the northeast, and Rennes in the northwest.
Many of the protesters were seen carrying signs with the slogan “Shame must switch sides”, which was popularised by the plaintiff in the Avignon trial, Gisele Pelicot.
The France mass rape horror has turned Gisèle into a feminist icon as she refused to keep the trial private and went ahead with opening it to the public to raise awareness.
“A law about consent must be put in place very quickly. Just because someone doesn’t say something, doesn’t mean that they agree” to sexual contact, said Marie-Claire Abiker, a retired nurse marching in Paris, AFP reported.
Watch | France: Gisele Pelicot Narrates Her Harrowing Tale In Court
Amy Bah, a member of the NousToutes (all of us women) feminist group protesting in Lille, said that in 2018, there were basically only women demonstrating. However, today, there is 30 per cent of men and that is great news.
“I feel like this is my business too, we each have our role to play, especially men,” said Arnaud Garcette at the Marseille demonstration, where he was marching with his two children.
“We’re at the source of the problem, and at the source of the solutions too,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)