#france mass rape trial

[mizelaneus]

“The majority of the defendants deny raping Ms Pelicot, and argue that they cannot be guilty because they did not realise she was unconscious and therefore did not "know" they were raping her.”

[trendynewsnow]

Protests in France and Italy Address Violence Against Women

Protests Erupt Across France and Italy Against Violence Towards Women On Saturday, thousands of individuals took to the streets in France and Italy to protest the alarming prevalence of violence against women, coinciding with the approach of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, observed on November 25. These demonstrations aimed to highlight various forms of…

[radlymona]

I can’t get over the mass rape case in France. It disturbs me on so many fucking levels but one thing that has stuck with me is that he was with her for 30+ years before the rapes began. According to the victim (Gisèle Pelicot, who I consider to be one of the bravest people on earth for going public with the trial) she considered her and husband be an idyllic couple. She loved him. And she thought he loved her. For thirty fucking years she was with him through thick and thin and in their late 50s he started raping her. I never want to hear another woman shamed for “choosing wrong”. It can happen at any fucking time no matter how much you think he loves you. This is so fucking terrifying

[someone-will-remember-us]

So many aspects of the trial of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other defendants in France over the past month have been so extraordinary to experience that they feel somehow surreal, or upside-down. In 2020, Gisèle Pelicot, a 67-year-old retiree living in the small French town of Mazan, was told by police that her husband of almost 50 years, Dominique, had been arrested after trying to film up women’s skirts in a shopping center. At first, Gisèle was cautiously understanding. If Dominique was willing to go into therapy, she thought, they could stay together. But then the police confronted her with something infinitely more shocking. On his hard drive, a folder titled “abuse” contained some 20,000 photographs and videos of Gisèle being raped and assaulted by strange men—72 in total—as well as her husband. For about a decade, they told her, he had been drugging her food and drink, and inviting men he met on the internet to abuse her. In court last month, Dominique Pelicot validated the charges against him. “I am a rapist, like the others in this room,” he said. Fourteen of the other men on trial have pleaded guilty to the charges against them, but the majority claim innocence, arguing that they thought they were simply participating in a “libertine” game between husband and wife.

Before his arrest, with regard to his own security, Dominique was meticulous to a fault. The men who came to his home had to warm their hands on a radiator before entering his bedroom. They had to undress in the kitchen. They weren’t to smell of cigarette smoke or aftershave, lest they leave any discernible trace of themselves behind. If Gisèle stirred while an assault was ongoing, Dominique ordered the assailant to leave the room. He kept detailed records, saving videos and photographs of each man in file folders categorized by their first name—“part pleasure,” he later explained in court, “but also, part insurance.” With regard to his wife’s safety, however, he was strikingly nonchalant. He didn’t require that any of the men accused of raping his wife use condoms. Some are accused of choking her while Dominique watched; others, of assaulting her with objects. One man, who was HIV-positive, allegedly raped Gisèle on six separate occasions, telling Dominique that he couldn’t maintain an erection if he wore protection. When Gisèle began to complain of strange physical symptoms—substantial weight loss, hair loss, huge gaps in her memory, difficulty moving her arm—Dominique drove her to doctor appointments, but didn’t stop drugging her, or facilitating her abuse. When she mentioned that she’d been having unexplained gynecological issues, he accused her of cheating on him. Of her husband, she said in court: “In 50 years, I never imagined for a second that he could rape.”

The mass trial of Dominique and 50 other men who could be identified (more than 20 alleged assailants remain at large) began in September, exposing a case that’s both wholly unprecedented and dully familiar. The fact that we’re aware of it at all is because of Gisèle, who gave up her right to privacy so that the allegations of what happened to her could be made public. What she believed, her lawyer said, was that “shame must change sides”—for the men accused of raping and assaulting her to be the ones whose characters were stained, whose reputations were maligned. In the process, she’s become a feminist icon in France, in whose name women’s groups have rallied, seeking to raise awareness about sex crimes involving drugging and pointing out that women are most likely to be raped by someone they know. Every day, before she enters the courtroom, Gisèle is applauded by crowds who have gathered outside to support her.

In court, though, Gisèle’s cross-examination has mostly been by the book, which is to say that lawyers for the defense—more than 40 in number—have done everything they can to impugn her character. “There’s rape and there’s rape,” one defense attorney told her, implying, as many of the defendants have argued, that Gisèle and her husband were swingers participating in an elaborate sex game. “No, there are no different types of rape,” she replied. Although the judges in the trial denied the prosecution’s request that videos documenting her abuse be shown in court, agreeing with defense lawyers that doing so would compromise the dignityof the defendants, they did allow those lawyers to show some 27 pictures that revealed Gisèle’s genitalia, and her face with her eyes apparently open. (A medical expert has testified that, given the medication Dominique was secretly administering, Gisèle was so heavily sedated, she was closer to being in a coma than being asleep.) Lawyers asked her whether she was an alcoholic, and whether she had “a secret inclination for exhibitionism.” In response, Gisèle stated that every day since the beginning of the trial, she’d been intentionally humiliated, and that she understood why most rape victims don’t press charges. Although she appears composed on the surface, she has said that, internally, she is “a field of ruins.” Even so, a few weeks into the trial, one defense lawyer, Nadia El Bouroumi, posted an Instagram Reel of herself in her car, miming to the Wham song “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” (She later deleted the video and posted a statement saying she was profoundly sorry if her meaning had been misinterpreted.)

This kind of ritualized cruelty toward victims is standard in legal systems worldwide, and yet the Pelicot case has stripped away all the usual obfuscations and muddying of details to make certain things clear. There are just so many accused rapists in this case, each one caught on camera. There are so many men who are alleged to have assaulted a drugged grandmother of seven that before they go into the courtroom, they have to form a queue, shuffling one by one in hunched, sullen fashion, as though waiting in a breadline, or for a bus. The men range in age from their 20s to their 70s. One was a firefighter. One was a nurse. One was a journalist. One was a prison guard, one a civil servant. Many were apparently happily married with children. One, a 22-year-old, missed the birth of his daughter the night he went to allegedly rape Gisèle.

Not all men rape women, the adage goes. But the Pelicot case has upended that argument: not all men, but any man, of any age, any profession, any marital status. Living in a small town of 6,000 people, Dominique was able to find 72 men nearby who were allegedly willing—as per his invitation on a forum titled “Without Their Knowledge”—to “abuse my sleeping, drugged wife.” The site he used, Coco.fr, was shut down earlier this year, but it has been implicated in 23,000 separate crimes that are under investigation by more than 70 public prosecutors’ offices across France. Not all men but, still, so many men. One defendant in the Pelicot case, a 72-year-old former firefighter and truck driver who was described by friends and family as “kind,” “attentive,” and “open to others,” told the courtroom that he had “a deep respect for women,” and that if his ex-wife were present, she’d tell them, “He loves the woman in all her diversity, all her complexity.” Nevertheless, he is accused of raping an unconscious woman, Gisèle’s lawyer countered; the man has denied the accusation. Another defendant explained that he realized what he was doing was wrong when Gisèle moved while he was assaulting her, and Dominique quickly ushered him out of the room. “When I crossed the garden, I thought about reporting the incident,” he said in court. “Then life resumed its course; the next day, I went to work very early, and that was that.”

The men accused of raping and assaulting Gisèle, it’s worth remembering, are so numerous that they were arrested in five separate waves, spanning almost a year. In court every week, a new group of defendants has been presented to the judges for consideration, so that their psychological profiles and the testimony of their partners and ex-partners can be taken into account. One defendant, a private nurse, was apparently extremely empathetic to his patients, whom he considered family. He and his wife tried for many years to have children, undergoing multiple rounds of IVF and eventually hoping to adopt. Another, a mason, was reportedly a wonderful father whose friends testified that he was respectful and quiet, never even making dirty jokes at parties. Some of the men have been described as egocentric, aggressive, and routinely unfaithful. One was incarcerated for acts of sexual violence against three other women at the time of his arrest. One has asked about the possibility of restorative justice. Some confessed to having been abused as children. One, although not charged with assaulting Gisèle, is accused of being mentored by Dominique in the drugging and rape of his own wife, who has stayed with him despite learning that both her husband and Dominique allegedly raped her while she was unconscious on several occasions. One defendant was described by his fiancée, with whom he shares a 15-month-old child conceived after his arrest, as having a “heart of gold.”

Following along with the trial, what’s been hard to process is the disconnect between how the defendants are being treated and what Gisèle has endured. The men’s psychological profiles are inherently humanizing—it’s difficult not to feel pity for those whose children have died, or who were reportedly abused themselves, or who apparently fought for their children with special needs to receive the educational assistance they needed. And yet these men also allegedly participated in the abuse and rape of a passed-out woman: an immobile, voiceless, dehumanized body served up to them by her husband, whose actions implied—and were accepted by the men—as ownership. “If a man came to have intercourse with me, he still should have asked for my consent,” Gisèle said in court. But that acquiescence itself would have been in opposition to what so many men apparently wanted: ultimate sexual domination over someone who couldn’t consent, orchestrated by the one man whom she loved and trusted the most.

(archive)

[capricorn-season]

[janesurlife]

I swear to god y'all the dumbest, most ignorant mother fuckers to ever walk the earth cause how are you going to call two men (who have been teammates for four years) hitting eachother below the belt SEXUAL ASSAULT when we're witnessing Giselle Pelicot case RIGHT NOW. SEXUAL ASSAULT is not a word you use lightly. How stupid do you have to be to ignore all the women (and men too) who have suffered through something as traumatizing as SA. Just yesterday I read about the france mass rape trial and when I tell you I felt disgusting to my bones I am not even exaggerating. So please for the love of God stop comparing this stupid incident to SA.

[destinyc1020]

⚠️ **TRIGGER WARNING: R*pe**

WHAT??? 😡

His own WIFE???

You have GOT to be kidding me! 😡 No, I had NOT heard about this.

There's a special place for men like this. Smh 🤦🏾‍♀️

[marionto]

Women in France moved by defiance of Gisèle Pelicot in mass rape trial

[feminegra]

Gisèle Pélicot’s Powerful Testimony in Mass Rape Trial

In a landmark mass rape trial in France, Gisèle Pélicot has emerged as a resilient figure determined to challenge societal norms and dismantle the culture of shame that often surrounds survivors of sexual violence. Testifying in a French court, she highlighted her resolve to support women who have experienced similar ordeals, stating, “They (rapists) are the ones who must be ashamed,” Her words…

[head-post]

How Pélicot case exposed rape culture in France

50 people stood trial, accused of raping the motionless body of Gisèle Pélicot while her husband recorded their actions for his video library. The unprecedented mass rape case revealed the actual image of a rapist, according to AP News.

A trial in France shows how pornography, sex chat rooms and men’s disdain for consent are fuelling rape culture. French society was disturbed not by the fact that her husband Dominique Pélicot orchestrated the mass rape, but that he had no difficulty finding dozens of men who agreed to engage in unlawful sexual acts.

One of the rapists, a married plumber with three children and five grandchildren, said he was not particularly bothered that the woman was not moving when he visited the Pélicot family home in the town of Mazan in 2019. He stated that it reminded him of adult videos, featuring women “pretending to be asleep and don’t react,” he watched.

Many of the other defendants told the court that they could not have imagined Dominique Pélicot drugging his wife and that they were told she was a willing participant acting out a perverted fantasy. However, the husband denied the accusation, claiming that his co-defendants was aware of the situation.

Pornography flourishing

Céline Piques, a spokesperson of the feminist group Osez le Féminisme!, or Dare Feminism! stated that many of the men under investigation were perverted by pornography. Although some websites started fighting search terms such as “unconscious,” hundreds of such videos could still be found online, Piques stressed.

Last year, French authorities registered 114,000 victims of sexual violence, including more than 25,000 reported rapes. However, experts argue that most rape cases go unreported due to a lack of tangible evidence. Many women do not press charges, with most dropping cases before investigations start.

The Pélicot case was unique in the French judicial system. After a shop security guard caught Dominique Pélicot making videos of unsuspecting women’s skirts in 2020, police searched his home and found thousands of pornographic photos and videos. The main defendant later revealed that he had recorded and stored the sexual encounters of each of his guests and organised them neatly in separate files.

France thrilled world community

Gisèle Pélicot, who is in her early 70s, did not know she had been raped. She chose to stay in the courtroom while the videos were shown. Unable to watch, she closed her eyes, stared at the floor or buried her face in her hands.

Sexual assault experts say the unwillingness or inability of the accused to confess to rape reveals the taboos and stereotypes that persist in French society. Magali Lafourcade, a judge and general secretary of the National Consultative Commission of Human Rights, did not attend the trial but said popular culture had given people a wrong idea of what rapists looked like and how they acted.

It’s the idea of a hooded man with a knife whom you don’t know and is waiting for you in a place that is not a private place.

Two-thirds of rapes occurred in private homes, with the vast majority of victims knowing their rapists, Lafourcade emphasised. She drew attention to the frightening reality that the Pélicot case “makes us realise that in fact rapists could be anyone.”

For once, they’re not monsters – they’re not serial killers on the margin of society. They are men who resemble those we love. In this sense, there is something revolutionary.

Read more HERE

[f1ghtsoftly]

All The Women’s News You Missed This Week

10/7/24-10/14/24

A South Korean Novelist takes home the Nobel Prize in Literature, Trump, and Harris vie for women voters. Women around the world continue to organize and fight male violence most notably this week accross South Africa, in Kolkata, and rural France. 

Want this sent to your email? Subscribe here

US Election:

Trump to join Fox News town hall with only women in audience

Obama’s callout to Black men touches a nerve among Democrats. Is election-year misogyny at play?

Abortion has passed inflation as the top election issue for women under 30, survey finds

Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights:

‘I found out I had cervical cancer while I was pregnant’

‘The View’ abortion ad signals wider effort to use an FCC regulation to spread a message

Moreno’s abortion comment rattles debate in expensive Senate race in Republican-leaning Ohio

Texas man drops case against 3 women for helping his ex-wife get abortion pills

Transgender/Gender Critical:

A kitchen staffed by trans women is a refuge for Mexico City’s LGBTQ+ community

‘Saboteurs’ release thousands of crickets at gender-critical group LGB Alliance's London event

Colorado court ducks deciding if baker could refuse to make LGBTQ-themed cake

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs and vetoes LGBTQ+ legislation

Florida mom of trans student sues school district, claiming retaliation and violation of rights

Women In The News:

The stats and shoes behind Chepngetich's amazing marathon world record

New Zealand ship didn’t sink because its captain was a woman, the ‘appalled’ defense minister says

American equal pay icon Lilly Ledbetter dies aged 86

Lupita Nyong'o speaks of family ordeal and condemns 'chilling' Kenya crackdown

'My employers locked me in the house and left when the bombings started'

How South Korea's 'real-life mermaids' made Malala want to learn to swim

Marine Le Pen hits back in EU funds misuse trial

Ukrainian journalist, 27, who chronicled Russian occupation dies in prison

Mothers seek justice for minors detained in Venezuelan election aftermath

Male Violence Against Women:

NY prosecutors want to combine Harvey Weinstein’s criminal cases into a single trial

Jury finds ex-member of rock band Mr. Bungle guilty of killing his girlfriend

Dad told police he killed Sara Sharif, court hears

Chris Brown concert shines spotlight on violence against women in South Africa

YouTuber Yung Filly charged with raping woman in Australia

Interpol asks public to help crack murdered women cold cases

Accused men confronted with abuse videos in French mass rape trial

Madeleine McCann suspect cleared of rape charges in separate trial

Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial set for May

OnlyFans user pleads guilty in child pornography case

Arts and Culture:

South Korea's Han Kang wins Nobel Literature Prize

Art becomes outrage: Kolkata festival confronts crime against female doctor

K-pop star to testify on music industry bullying

Muni Long believes ‘Revenge’ is a dish best served with success

Riley Keough felt a duty to finish Lisa Marie Presley’s book on Elvis, grief, addiction and love

Music Review: Charli XCX’s ‘Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat’ remixes, ranked

Music Review: ‘Sex Education’ star Dua Saleh’s debut, ‘I Should Call Them’ is arty, experimental pop

Rekha at 70: Bollywood's timeless icon

Tributes paid to author's 'empathy and respect'

Experience artist Es Devlin's powerful new work

Disclaimer review: Cate Blanchett gives an 'increasingly frenzied' performance in this 'engrossing' revenge thriller

'I was told Mr Loverman was too niche for TV'

As always, this is global and domestic news from a US perspective covering feminist issues and women in the news more generally. As of right now, I do not cover Women’s Sports. Published each Monday afternoon.

[adrianodiprato]

+ “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power.” —Maya Angelou

To my remarkable mother,

As I sit here reflecting on your journey through life, I am struck by the incredible resilience and strength you've carried with you over the years. Your life, beginning in the aftermath of a war-torn Vienna, embodies a narrative of survival, adaptation, and ultimately, resilience.

In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, Austria, like much of Europe, was thrust into a period of profound upheaval and devastation. Divided into four occupation zones overseen by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, and France, Vienna bore witness to similar partitioning. For many Austrians, this post-war period was marked by harrowing experiences of looting, rape, and widespread hunger. In my mother's district, which fell under Soviet control, the situation was particularly dire. Soviet troops were notorious for their brutal acts of plundering, assaulting civilians, and perpetrating mass sexual violence, leaving a lasting impact on those who survived this tumultuous era. 

Growing up, I witnessed firsthand your proud Austrian spirit—a spirit tempered by the hardships of post-war Europe. The war's legacy left scars on many, and while you weren't directly impacted by the occupying forces, you experienced the echoes of that turbulent time. The Vienna you knew was transformed, and the decision to venture to Australia—so distant from the cobblestone streets and imperial grandeur of home—must have been both daunting and courageous.

In Australia, you embarked on a new chapter of your life, encountering foreign lands, languages, and cultures. It was here that fate brought you together with my father, another soul seeking solace and opportunity in a distant land. Together, you built a life—a testament to your tenacity and willingness to embrace the unknown.

Your stroke in 2023 was a cruel twist of fate—a moment that changed our lives profoundly. Yet, even in the face of physical limitations and cognitive challenges, your spirit remains indomitable. Your determination to push forward despite the obstacles is a testament to your unwavering resolve. Throughout your life, you've navigated numerous medical challenges with grace and strength. From serious spinal damage to the loss of a spleen, and even surviving skin cancer, each hurdle you've overcome is a testament to your resilience and inner fortitude. Despite these trials, you've always faced adversity with courage, refusing to let these obstacles define or defeat you.

"While the passage of time has brought its share of difficulties, it has also afforded us moments of profound connection and love."

As you approach your 90th birthday later this year, I find myself in awe of the strength and character you've exhibited throughout your life. Your journey has been marked by trials and triumphs, each shaping the person you are today. While the passage of time has brought its share of difficulties, it has also afforded us moments of profound connection and love.

Caring for you now is both an honour and a privilege (and at times frustrating!!). Despite the hardships and the emotional toll, I cherish these moments spent together—the conversations, the shared memories, the quiet understandings. Each day, as we navigate this journey together, with amazing support from my wonderful sister, I am reminded of the profound sacrifices you made for me and the enduring love that binds us.

As we look ahead to the future—anticipating the joy of seeing your grandson André marry Aleks—I am filled with gratitude for the gift of your presence in our lives. Your legacy, defined by courage, perseverance, and love, will continue to inspire generations to come.

Happy Mother’s Day dear Mother. 

With all my love,

Adriano xx

Main image: Photo of my mother in her mid-20s Vienna, Austria. And the second image is me with my brother in law, my mum, my nephew and my sister.

[tattered-cynic]

"while they undergo rehabilitation" - except there is no rehabilitation for rapists and murderers. All the evidence shows that rapists will reoffend if released. There is a lot of evidence to show that murderers will reoffend if released. No matter the length of their sentence, no matter what "rehabilitation" they underwent while behind bars. There is no redeeming those crimes, or the people that commit them. They have shown that they are unsafe to be allowed to be free in society. Contrary to what you and the OP might think, it isn't about "punishment" or "revenge", it's about preventing another crime, preventing hurt to another possible victim(s). These people (overwhelmingly men, I might add, as it's important), are a danger to everyone around them. Locking them up is not just justice, it is security. Look at the recent mass rape trial in Mazan, France. Are you suggesting that some of these men, who have shown they are willing to rape a drugged woman on the insistence of her husband alone, are safe to be around? Would you be willing to share a room with them; a street; a neighbourhood? Knowing what they've done and could easily do again? I'm not even their target demographic and the thought of that still disgusts me. Or look at the recent reveal of Al Fayed's sexual assaults on his staff at Harrods while he was the owner. Would you have worked for him, knowing what he was all-too capable of? I'm not going to apologise for refusing to give these men "the benefit of the doubt". Or let's consider a murderer - would you feel safe if a known murderer, released from prison, moved into your neighbourhood? If you have children, would you still let them go outside as much (or at all) after learning that news? What if they killed again, and that death could have been prevented if they had still been incarcerated? Would you still hold to your belief that they deserve another chance, that they are redeemable? I doubt it. I respect that you are idealistic and optimistic, I understand that you see hope for perpetrators of even the most horrific crimes, but that idealism is misplaced. You have to draw a line somewhere, for people's safety. Rapists and Murderers have no place in wider society, they have, by their crimes, forfeited that right to freedom. For the security of the rest of society, they must be locked up for the rest of their lives, because the risk of them reoffending is simply too great to allow them out.

The thing is, until you get past the mindset of "justice=punishment" you will never be able to create lasting change. We have actual proof that punitive justice creates more crime and makes criminals more violent. We have actual proof that rehabilitation reduces crime and recidivism. But some of y'all are so stuck on this idea that the wrongdoer must be punished for justice to be done that you will choose sating your need for revenge over actually moving toward a better world every time. And that's sad!

[williamchasterson]

Final phase for mass rape trial that has horrified France

Fifty-one men are on trial in a case that focuses on a formerly married couple, Dominique and Gisèle Pelicot. from BBC News https://ift.tt/LtzwI8V via IFTTT

[swldx]

Voice of America 0327 24 Oct 2024

6080Khz 0259 24 OCT 2024 - VOICE OF AMERICA (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) in ENGLISH from MOPENG HILL. SINPO = 45333. English, s/on @0259z w/Yankee Doodle int fb news anchored by Alexis Strope @0300z. § The United States said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops were dispatched to Russia earlier this month and are being trained there, possibly to fight alongside Moscow’s troops in their 32-month war against Ukraine. § Turkey's air force struck Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday in an apparent retaliation for an attack at a key state-run defense company that killed five people and wounded more than 20 others. § France may introduce changes to its rape law to include consent for the first time, after a mass rape trial shook the country, challenging the limits of existing legislation and prompting some leading politicians to call for change. § Israeli army accused six Al Jazeera journalists, all Palestinian men, of being affiliated with militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Al Jazeera denied claims, calling them fabricated. The controversy highlights ongoing tensions amidst the Gaza conflict, drawing criticism from the Committee to Protect Journalists. § Microsoft issued a seven-page report on how Russia, Iran and China are trying to interfere with the 2024 U.S. elections. The company's threat analysis center is warning deepfake videos and other tactics are being used to target political candidates. § Thousands of delegates from across the Commonwealth are gathering in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Climate change is set to dominate discussions, with Pacific countries ramping up pressure on bigger nations, like Australia, to do more. But there's also an air of excitement among locals, who are embracing the many visitors. @0305z “Daybreak Africa” anchored by James Butty (w/African accent). MLA 30 amplified loop (powered w/8 AA rechargeable batteries ~10.8vdc), JRC NRD-535D. 100kW, beamAz 350°, bearing 84°. Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 14087KM from transmitter at Mopeng Hill. Local time: 2159.