'It’s the height of horror’

[RaspberryParade]

Protests in 30 French cities in support of Gisèle Pélicot
Outrage at ordeal of woman raped after being drugged by husband leads to marches across the country'
Good to hear! I hope and pray French women dont let this drop and go back to business as usual.
On a separate note the Observer is so much better than the Guardian.

www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/14/its-the-height-of-horror-protests-in-30-french-cities-in-support-of-gisele-pelicot

At a protest in Marseille, Martine Ragon, 74, said she was there to “denounce rape culture”. She told journalists: “This well-publicised trial will allow people to speak out about it, to raise awareness.” Her partner, Gérard Etienne, 75, added: “We need to support women who are treated like this. When you hear some of the testimonies, you wonder how a man can treat a woman like that.”
Photographer Pedro Campos, 21, agreed: “It’s shocking… because we see that the [men on trial] are a bit like Mr Everyman. It goes against the idea that there is only one type of rapist.”
…
The trial, scheduled to last four months, was suspended on Thursday, as it entered its second week, after Dominique Pélicot was taken ill on the day he was to be cross-examined. It will reopen on Monday, but presiding judge Roger Arata has warned that the hearing may have to be postponed if Pélicot remains unable to give and hear evidence.

I trust that DP recovers sufficiently for the trial to continue. GP's courage is remarkable and it would feel unjust for this trial to be postponed or delayed for a substantial period.

It is horrific to think there are many chat rooms out there for this kind of things- what is wrong with some men!

'I trust that DP recovers sufficiently for the trial to continue.'
Yes, my thoughts went to him as well...

Yes, my thoughts went to him as well...

Presumably if DP doesn't continue, this may have implications for the other attackers and their trial.

What I found shocking was that most of the 50 men on trial came from a few villages around where they lived. So it wasn't like he had to even look far afield to find men to do this.

I sincerely hope not.
If I was her I'd hire a professional and damn the consequences.

The courage of this woman to waive her anonymity is astonishing.
I am glad people are going out and showing their support for her and their disgust for the men who so willingly participated in the abuse.

There are sadly a significant number of men who would rape if they only could Get away with it. Here we’re looking at real numbers, aren’t we; over 80 out of a population of 6000. Presumably just over half will be women, and some of the 3000 males will be children.
At least 80 out of 2000 adult men - and that is just the ones who abused Gisele Pelicot. We’re looking at at least 4% of the male population happy to carry out rape. At least.

That is fucking depressing, that is.

It's probably higher, since presumably he did not get the chance to ask every one of the estimated 2000.
Then you have to think of the men who said no but still didn't report him.
My guess is that if he had asked every single man, 20% would do it and most of the rest would say no but do nothing about it. There might be as much as 10% who would actually have reported if they were asked.
This is why I have nothing to do with men anymore. Most of the men who are not rapists themselves don't care when other men rape.

How did it come to light? Did someone report him in the end?

Effectively, by accident.

He was upskirting. He got caught. Police searched his hard drives and discovered 20,000 images and hundreds of videos involving the rape of his wife (in a folder named 'abuse'). There are sneak images of his daughter and daughter-in-law as well.

It is at the very least pleasantly surprising to hear that the police took the upskirting seriously enough to go through his laptop etc.

I mean, it's a low bar I know. But still.

I heard an interesting stat on woman's hour when they were talking about this, and they said that 1/3 men involved in upskirting also had history of other crimes such as rape, sexual assault, domestic abuse, child abuse.

Good point and something we always have to remember. It's no good trying to rely on men to save us from other men.

But of all the men he did ask, and who knows how many that was, not one of them thought, fuck this, I'm calling the police? That's the bleakest thing.

Thats it isnt it.
Small community, didnt want to be caught 'ratting' on his neighbours.
Never say men arent social cowards

Disclaimer: I haven’t read the original research, and the sample size is small, but this would suggest it’s nearer a third:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/a-third-of-male-university-students-say-they-would-rape-a-woman-if-there-no-were-no-consequences-9978052.html

Grim

The trial, scheduled to last four months, was suspended on Thursday, as it entered its second week, after Dominique Pélicot was taken ill on the day he was to be cross-examined.

I don't think that shitting yourself at the thought of public exposure is being "taken ill."

I'm sure every man accused including DP will want the chance to have a fair trial and clear their name.

I'm glad the people of France are protesting.

Have the usual fuckwits been out counter protesting? I know feminists often get met with violent response at protests in France.

But he puked...

...he's on death's door.

I heard on the radio yesterday (France Info) that his lawyer's argument is that the ''there is rape, and then there is rape '' (il y a viol puis il y a viol), I think he was trying to say this wasn't really that bad as she wasn't aware of it at the time. Words fail me.

I heard on the radio yesterday (France Info) that his lawyer's argument is that the ''there is rape, and then there is rape '' (il y a viol puis il y a viol), I think he was trying to say this wasn't really that bad as she wasn't aware of it at the time.

The mayor of the town said that it wasn't so bad because she didn't die, there were no children involved, and she wasn't even aware of it.

I read some of this shit.

Anyone positing this should be willing to be drugged themselves and have the same experience before deciding on just how bad it is.

@XChrome @Motorina

Yes I know, there are far far far more.

And the comments from the lawyer and the mayor.
Can we have a reverse Spanish Inquisition soon please?

Edit: and the awfulness for GP of being so ill for so long, wondering what was wrong with her. Words fail me here, it is so heartbreaking.

the awfulness for GP of being so ill for so long, wondering what was wrong with her

And when she discovered she had an STI - or several - DP insisting she must be having affairs while he was off playing boules or cycling. Who knew MAMILs could be worse than the MN standard?

I heard this too. It's the appallingly misogynist repost of so many men to abused women: that the real issue is not that it happened, but that she's making a silly fuss about it.

He dislikes this because it is embarrassing and annoying for her abusers, and likely to harm their lives when all they were doing was sexually abusing her. As usual the more important men in the situation should not have their lives affected by taking any responsibility when it was merely their non consenting use of the woman' s body that was the offense. It's still rooted in the idea that 'men have needs' and that a woman has no real and justifiable right to refuse a man the 'reasonable' use of her body.

Spot on, unfortunately