Rapes of Mazan, a trial that fascinates the whole world: “There is real admiration for the courage of this lady”

Gisèle Pelicot has become an international symbol of the fight against violence against women. MIDI LIBRE – FRANCOIS BARRERE

More than forty foreign media outlets are present at the Vaucluse criminal court to report on this case that resonates with the issue of violence against women and the debates on patriarchy that run through the societies of very different countries.

"From the start of the trial, it was the most read subject in Spanish newspapers and televisions." As the correspondent in France for the Madrid daily El Mundo, Raquel Villaecija did not miss a single day of the Mazan trial, where 51 defendants are being tried for raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was drugged by sleeping pills that her husband administered to her without her knowledge.

"This case goes much further than a simple news item, and is especially important for Spain, where we had the case of the manada, the pack”.

Rape law changed in Spain after a court case

This gang rape led to a change in the law on the concept of consent, with the accused being acquitted of the criminal charges because their terrified victim had not, according to the judges, clearly expressed her refusal. “From now on in Spain, if you don't have one person who says yes, that means it's no. A person who is asleep, drunk, drugged: if she hasn't said yes, it's definitely a no" explains the journalist, who notes other differences.

"Women and feminist movements are much more combative here than here. And we are very surprised to see that French women change their name to that of their husband."

Read also: Mazan rape trial: Dominique Pelicot finally speaks, between confessions, justifications and cover-ups

Brazilian television and Colombian radio

The echo of the Mazan rapes transcends borders, given the incredible international craze for the Pelicot case. More than forty foreign newspapers, radios, televisions and press agencies are accredited, out of the 120 media outlets reporting on the trial. Almost all European countries have sent reporters to Avignon. But we also saw a Brazilian television channel, a Colombian radio station organized live duplexes, and the New York Times reported on the progress of the hearings almost every day.

A British writer in the courtroom

"In the United Kingdom as elsewhere, the issue of violence against women remains a hot topic" underlines Nick Foster, a British journalist and writer, present at the court from the first days. “It is still difficult to understand that nowadays a woman cannot walk safely in a European city, while in Japan, it is possible” recalls this author of a noted work on the murder in Ireland of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

Beyond the debates on consent or chemical submission, he is also struck by other aspects of the case. “There is the number of defendants of course, the fact that the victim is confronted with it every day in the courtroom, but also the story of this couple who came to seek happiness in Provence, and who found hell there. Provence, in England, is something mythical.”

Standing up against patriarchy

There remains the key character of Gisèle Pelicot, this victim who fought for the trial to be public, and who is applauded by the crowd each time she passes through the courtroom. “There is real admiration for the courage of this lady who stands up against the patriarchy that considers that women are the property of men” considers Johanna Adorjan, from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, a Berlin newspaper. “Even if in Germany, where we didn't have any big scandals at the time of Meetoo, the relationships between men and women, as in the Scandinavian countries, are more balanced than here”.

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