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.

  • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    7 hours ago

    “Always men.”

    “Literally nobody lumped you in.”

    Uhh, yeah, the author of the sign did. And so do the literal laws in many places by excluding woman perpetrators.

    It’s absolutely NOT fixed until the law is changed you absolute muppet.

    • pyre@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      30 minutes ago

      uhh, no. “always men” doesn’t lump you in. “all men” does. this entire thing is about a sign that says “not all men”…

      and if you “will not have this conversation”, you’re doing it entirely wrong by having this conversation, you half-inflated dingy! if that what we’re doing now?

      • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        17 minutes ago

        Right it’s not the usual, it’s just excusing the women who raped me (well, so is the law in my area, which is also an issue) because “it’s always men.” Forgive me if I don’t care to make the distinction lmao, the sign is wrong and you are wrong.

        Wrong x2 because I’m not engaging with the “oh we’re raped more no we’re raped more…” because the goddamn statistics are skewed by the virtue if the legal definition excluding woman abusers from the charge of rape by default, I’m engaging with the “and that’s why you don’t matter” portion. I don’t fucking care who is raped more, speak about all of it instead of hand waving away male victims of female abusers.

        It’s bonkos to me how you are sitting here being all smug feeling good about attempting to silence rape victims. How can you not see you’re part of the problem?

        • pyre@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 minute ago

          I don’t remember silencing you. as I said, is embellishment. you’re not supposed to take it literally. maybe go counter protest with a sign that says “make your signs more precise and less attention grabbing”