France’s landmark mass rape trial is over. But the Pelicot case demonstrates that systemic violence against women runs deep

Analysis by Saskya Vandoorne, CNN

(CNN) — It’s the landmark trial that has upended French society and prompted some deep soul searching about sexual violence and consent: the Pelicot mass rape case.

Many have called it a socio-cultural earthquake, a reckoning on France’s systemic problem with women. At the epicenter of the trial are 51 men, all who lived within a 30-mile radius of one another. There was Dominique Pelicot at the helm, who drugged and invited those strangers to assault and rape his then-wife, Gisèle for over a decade.

It was in this tiny geographic perimeter where an entire world of violence and misogyny existed.

On Thursday, hundreds of people packed an emotionally charged Avignon courtroom, with many spilling out across the courthouse to hear the fate of the accused, whose actions had not only changed the lives of Gisèle and her family but also the nation.

Forty-nine of the men were convicted of rape. Two were convicted of sexual assault. Four of the men were also convicted for possessing child sex abuse imagery.

The men were “Monsieur-Tout-Le-Monde,” or “Mr. Everyman,” as they’ve come to be called – not career criminals. The men, aged 26 to 74, worked in jobs including nursing, the military, journalism and in the prison system.

Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence against them, hundreds of damning videos showing the rapes and thousands of text messages laying bare their plans, only a dozen of the men admitted guilt, with many saying they believed the consent of Dominique – not Gisèle – was enough to carry out their crimes.

The horror of the crimes, coupled with the idea that they were carried out by “Mr. Everyman,” has pushed forward a national conversation on the normalization of sexual assault.

Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum for his crime. The other men received jail terms of between three and 15 years. Some, meanwhile, have walked free after completing suspended sentences.

Many say the sentences aren’t harsh enough, that they do not take into consideration the horrors of the crime. And despite the prison sentences, without any concrete changes, the women of Mazan – the southern French village where the crimes occurred – say they could still happen again tomorrow.

“What has really changed? The mentality hasn’t changed and neither have the laws, it stays the same and that’s why we don’t feel safe,” said Nedeljka Macan, a resident of Mazan.

Gisèle hoped that by waiving her anonymity – and therefore opening the trial to the public – she would help to change rape culture, however painful it was to watch the harrowing evidence of her abuse.

“It was a choice to make it public. And she’s done that in service of other women,” Sarah McGrath of Women for Women France told CNN.

It was that service, courage and defiance that transformed her into a feminist hero, one who is determined to make “shame change sides.”

“Quite often internationally, France can have a sort of reputation of being really progressive when it comes to women’s rights,” McGrath said. “And that is the case we’ve just had, you know, the right to an abortion put into the constitution, which is a great move forward. However, when it comes to sexist and sexual violence, we really do lag behind our other European neighbors.”

Data show that survivors of sexual violence don’t tend to come forward in France. Only 10% of victims of rape even report the crime to the justice system. And of those reports, only 1 to 4% end up with a conviction, McGrath said.

Gisèle Pelicot has now inspired these very victims to come forward and push for change. The last three months have spurred people across France towards introspection and to consider what is consent. The trial has forced them to discuss rape culture, and how to change it.

Although the trial will mark French history, campaigners and lawyers have stressed that it doesn’t mark the end of an ugly chapter in time; but rather the beginning of a new era where consent is taught in schools and put into the penal code.

Women’s’ rights activists are riding the wave of Gisèle’s call to action – and optimism.

As she left the courthouse on Thursday, she said that the trial showed to her that a “future where women and men can live in harmony and mutual respect” is in fact achievable.

It is up to France to seize this moment and make it a reality.

CNN’s Kara Fox contributed to this report.

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