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They line up in front of a courthouse in southeastern France, from morning to evening, and have gathered in the thousands in cities across the country. They hold signs reading, "one rape every six minutes," "not all men but always a man," and "giving in is not consenting."

They chant: "Rapist we see you, victim we believe you."

Women across France are rallying in support of Gisèle Pelicot, a 72-year-old reluctant icon whose husband is on trial in the city of Avignon for systematically drugging her and inviting dozens of men, 50 of whom are now his co-defendants, into their home to rape her over nearly a decade.

The shocking case has sparked what many women in France call a long-overdue reckoning over "rape culture" and systemic sexism in the way the judicial system handles sexual violence.

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[-] AllHailTheSheep@sh.itjust.works 2 points 40 minutes ago

imagine taking this story, about where a woman was systematically drugged and raped for OVER 10 YEARS, and going "ah yes but what about the men?!?". I truly feel for the men in the comments sharing their stories, and I hope they continue to share and raise awareness, but Jesus y'all not the time

[-] AnxiousOtter@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

I'm so tired of walking into a post about women getting sexually assaulted and seeing a wall of "BuT WhAt AbOuT MeN!?!" comments. You people are so fucking stupid.

[-] mightyfoolish@lemmy.world 1 points 38 minutes ago

50 codefendants in a case against one woman? How horrific.

Thank you to the French women doing this. However, since this is France, my biggest worry is this will be shot down with a big red flag/note saying:

How can we fix this when the government keeps protecting the real rapists: minorities

[-] parrhesia@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 hours ago

Husband aside, that's 50 separate people who thought this was okay. Ffs

[-] Ifera@lemmy.world 6 points 1 hour ago

Allegedly, they didn't. Multiple men were contacted through a swingers website, and allegedly led to believe she was a willing participant pretending to be asleep, instead of what she really was, the victim of a disgusting monster, drugged and undressed without her knowledge, for the pleasure of a sick monster.

To the point where one of her abusers, fully aware of what he did, wrote to her to apologize from jail, realizing what he had done under false pretenses, and aware that by not doing his due diligence, he raped her in the literal sense of the word.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 5 points 1 hour ago

Yeah, I feel sympathy for those deceived. With kinks like that due diligence is critical, but they were unknowingly and unwillingly party to harm. I imagine that that’s going to haunt some of them forever.

It’s definitely important to keep the focus on the primary victim, what was done to her is the stuff of nightmares, but I can definitely feel sympathy to all who were deceived here.

[-] yamanii@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Because he said it was their kink to them.

[-] Jayjader@jlai.lu 14 points 6 hours ago

I think I would have more sympathy with those focusing on the "not all men but always a man" sign if this weren't in the context of a woman being drugged by her husband and then said husband inviting about 50 random men to rape her, over 10 years.

One of the worst times to advocate for men's rights/issues is when everyone is talking about the heinous crimes a bunch of men have done. Especially if the comments you're leaving are focusing on how women rape just as much as men do, etc.

[-] Roflmasterbigpimp@lemmy.world 4 points 1 hour ago

I agree with you. Yes, this is not the time nor the place to go full on men's rights activism, 100% correct.

But if someone tells a rape victim his experience does not account because he part of the 4%, then nobody won anything at all, and I will speak my mind about such a heinous statement, the same way I will speak my mind about any one telling Woman shit like "It happened bc you dressed so seductive", "You sure he heard you saying No?"etc etc. .

[-] Makhno@lemmy.world 9 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

One of the worst times to advocate for men's rights/issues is when everyone is talking about the heinous crimes a bunch of men have done. Especially if the comments you're leaving are focusing on how women rape just as much as men do, etc.

Agreed. Unfortunately there's always gonna be a whataboutism as long as men feel unheard...

People can lose empathy when they think the world is ignoring them. It's taken me years to move on from people telling me to "man up" or "get over it" about my SA.

[-] VinnyDaCat@lemmy.world -1 points 2 hours ago

Absolutely agreed.

Something I used to hear regarding feminism was that it also fought for men's rights even if indirectly for equality purposes. While I wouldn't say it's accurate of the movement now, I will say that it'd be a nice thing for men's rights groups to pick up. If these movements want to be heard then they must be willing to listen to the voices of women and be willing to bring their own to justice.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 points 42 minutes ago* (last edited 39 minutes ago)

As a modern feminist I think that’s one of the differences between the third and fourth waves. The third wave (and early second wave) had a strong emphasis on “feminism is for everyone” and was much more “theory based” if that makes sense. The fourth wave is generally understood to be defined by the era of mass social media. It’s been hardened by things like gamergate, the me too movement, and the rabid opposition to the third wave by reactionary men refusing to accept that it was the most pro man wave feminism saw. I don’t think it’s tactically wise or theoretically sound, but I get and feel the anger. That said I’m generally more pro third wave as a whole, including thinking bell hooks really understood how patriarchy negatively impacts men.

But yeah, modern feminist culture is jaded and angry, and for good reason. And I do agree that a men’s movement to deal with y’all’s issues would be incredibly helpful so long as you’re able to keep the reactionary voices out of it. Because from this woman’s perspective, a lot of men really need to develop friendships based on mutual care and understanding. Women can’t fix the malaise men are currently showing, and reactionaries can only make it worse.

[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 1 points 55 minutes ago* (last edited 54 minutes ago)

Yo, feminists have been leading the charge on shit like paternity leave (FMLA was feminists), battered men's shelters (now there's four! In the country!) and getting equality of rulings on spousal abuse or visitation rights. Don't buy into the alt-right BS about how the movement used to be good but now it's just full of all those self-centered women, and I only hate the current version. It's a really common line, and it's bullshit.

[-] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 51 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

I don't like that sign. Sure, when she gets raped it's probably a man but every time it's happened to me so far it has been a woman, so, no not "always a man."

"Good" news is that while I was forced to have sex (or else what was I gonna do fight her? Yeah that won't end with me in cuffs) it isn't rape because definitionally the worst women can do in my area is sexual assault, and people only care if you're a minor, just try and report it as an adult. Most people just think "oh you're a man you must've liked it" and just minimize it away because we're just sex objects so who fucking cares, I just had to get the fuck over it and I did, but it still pisses me off that I'm literally the victim of this shit and treated like a perpetrator by default just because I happen to have a penis, it's the ultimate "fuck you" on top really.

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this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2024
497 points (93.2% liked)

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