More than 400 organizations across France protested against violence against women on Saturday.
The protests are a reaction to the mass rape trial, where around 50 men are accused of having raped Gisele Pélicot.
– A consent law must be introduced as soon as possible, says a retired nurse who marched in Paris to France24.
Gisèle Pélicot, 72, was drugged for over ten years by her husband and raped by over 80 different men whom her husband found and invited via a website.
About 50 men are now being prosecuted, suspected of raping Gisèle Pélicot.
During Saturday, thousands of French people, both women and men, went out in protest against the violence against women, as a reaction to the trial. Over 400 organizations called for the demonstrations that took place across the country.
“This is everyone’s business”
Campaigners believe France should learn something from the mass-rape trial, which is expected to conclude next week.
– The more we are, the more visible we are. This is everyone’s concern, not just women’s, adds one local resident France24.
Gisèle Pélicot has been praised for choosing to answer the media’s questions and be open about what happened to her, rather than keeping the case behind closed doors.
“More and more people now want to see a law of consent in France. Many point to countries like Sweden as role models, and the country’s minister of justice has expressed himself positively about a change. In any case, it is clear that the trial has already left its mark and that it will mark a clear before and after in French society. Maybe Gisèle Pelicot’s fight can be the start of a new era,” freelance journalist Jennifer Paterson wrote in an analysis on Sweden news earlier this week.