Beyond the media coverage, let’s organize the fight against sexual violence!
By BRUNE ERNST (France)
On Sept. 2, 2024, the trial began in France against Dominique Pelicot, the man accused of being the organizer of numerous rapes of his wife. For almost 10 years, Gisèle was drugged by her husband and raped without her knowledge, more than a hundred times by about 50 men, who are also accused of aggravated rape.
A so-called “historic” case is emblematic of systemic oppression
In 2020, Dominique Pelicot was caught taking photographs under the skirts of women. An investigation followed, where numerous photographs and videos were found on his computer of Gisèle, unconscious, being raped by dozens of men. Four years later, the trial has begun against Dominique Pelicot and the rapists who could be identified thanks to the photos and videos.
In court, the rapists’ lawyers have resorted to the well-known strategy of invisibilization or minimization of the facts, describing the images as “sexual relations” and not rape, and questioning the victim about her “sexual preferences and practices”—threesomes or swinging. But the images speak for themselves, and in France there is talk of a “historic trial” that would be considered the most serious rape case ever tried in France.
Putting the notion of consent at the heart of the definition of rape
This trial is taking place in France in a context in which the definition of rape has been debated for several years. Indeed, following the proposal, in 2022, by the European Commission to unify the characterization of rape in Europe around the notion of consent, France was one of the 11 countries that opposed this definition. In France, rape is defined as “an act of penetration where sexual aggression is committed under threat, coercion, surprise or violence”. Thus, the notion of consent is not taken into account, which leaves enormous scope for the defense of rapists and ignores, among other things, the psychological dimension of the act and the trauma created, which can, for example, lead to states of shock in which the victim is unable to react to the violence they are experiencing. This definition also makes possible a “gray area”, particularly in cases of marital rape, which is almost impossible to characterize as such.
France’s refusal to unify the definition of rape around consent on a European scale has been strongly criticized by certain left-wing political groups, but especially by feminist collectives and associations fighting to defend all those who are victims of rape and violence in this system of oppression represented by patriarchal capitalism. This debate seems to have experienced a “180-degree turn” on March 8, 2024, when, on the sidelines of the sealing ceremony of the law constitutionalizing the voluntary termination of pregnancy, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, declared that the notion of consent should be enshrined in French law.
The parallel with the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution is interesting. Indeed, the pressure exerted on society by campaigns such as MeToo, social movements, or feminist strikes that have emerged in several countries around the world including Spain, Argentina, Poland… and the progress they have sometimes made possible, have also made it possible to put these debates at the center of society and the media, which are beginning to seriously address the issue of sexual and gender-based violence. The French government (and other parties claiming their radicalism on these issues) are not free from these pressures and often resort to “pinkwashing”, to give the appearance of taking this violence into account, and of acting in a progressive way towards it. The media coverage of the Pelicot affair is no doubt also a consequence of this pressure. But it should not make us forget that beyond the singularity of Gisèle’s case, there are many violations committed against victims of chemical subjugation, most of which remain unknown and unaddressed.
Keeping up the pressure through struggle
Beyond these effects, it is not difficult to blow up appearances and show their emptiness. For example, the constitutionalization of abortion, which had been strongly supported in particular by France Insoumise, did not fool everyone, and some feminist collectives very quickly demonstrated that it remained insufficient without the material means to carry it through with effective measures. Indeed, there are no guarantees that this right will be effective without the means and resources given to maintaining existing centers for carrying out a VTP (Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy) or the creation of new ones, especially in the countryside, without removing the conscience clause behind which many health professionals still hide, and without an explicit opening of abortion for trans persons.
The same goes for the inclusion of the notion of consent in the law. In fact, rape cases are emblematic of the systemic sexism that permeates the State and society on all sides. First, because the places where it is possible to talk about this issue are not numerous or, when they do exist, they lack funding and human resources to fulfill their function. And, when people do come forward to denounce rape or sexual violence, the way they are treated in the gendarmerie or in police stations is violent to say the least. Finally, because the cases—few in number, given the previous obstacles—that are actually tried often end up being shelved for lack of evidence.
Thus, what makes the Pelicot case so resonant is above all the presence of a large amount of evidence in the form of videos and photographs found on the defendant’s computer. We can easily imagine that without this evidence, and despite the unexplained psychological and gynecological disorders that the victim had been presenting for years, the trial would not have taken place and that the violence against Gisèle would have continued, in the shadow of the “private sphere”.
Therefore, including the notion of consent will not be enough. As with abortion, financial and human resources must be dedicated to the issue of rape and, more particularly, to sexual and male chauvinist violence. Mandatory training is also necessary for all those who receive, defend, or judge cases of rape. But these means, as well as the transformation of the society that supports them, will only be possible if the pressure on them is intensified. Like the mass mobilizations in many countries around the world on these issues, it is necessary to strengthen existing self-organized collectives, and in particular the coordination of collectives that give themselves the task of organizing the feminist strike – a strike to demand rights for women and minorities, and to demand a society free of the systemic oppressions that characterize it.
From this perspective, and although this struggle must be continuous, it is important to take advantage of Nov. 25 and March 8, to denounce their use by the political class, and to organize together with trade union organizations, which must be open to self-organized collectives on these issues, to present a platform of demands, as well as a general strike. In all the numerous cities where the dates of Nov. 25 and March 8 are celebrated, let us join the collectives organizing the struggle and the planned demonstrations, and build demands that allow the convergence of all struggles against oppression.
It’s time for the victims’ shame to pass to the perpetrators!
By LAURA R. (Corriente Roja, Spain)
Mom, did you hear about the “51 in France”? It’s horrible, Mom! No, what are you talking about? That’s when a quick Google search reveals the facts of the case, and a wave of indignation, and also shame reverberates through my body. Shame for her, for me, and for all women. Reality is once again harsher than fiction, however twisted it may be. No matter how many “advances and achievements” we are told we have made in civilized and democratic Europe, the brutal reality reminds us that, for some men, we are still “their” property. And what’s worse is that they are not alone.
The facts: “Rape is not the word; it is barbarism.”
67-year-old Gisèle, a resident of the town of Mazan in southeastern France, was repeatedly raped by more than 50 men over 10 years. During this time her husband Dominique Pélicot, a 71-year-old retiree, offered the “sexual services of a sleepwalking and obedient wife”, on a web portal that was shut down by the French Police in June of this year. This same web portal served a now dismantled child pornography distribution network, which extended into eight countries both in Europe and the Americas.
With respect to the case, which is being tried in Avignon, the authorities have identified 51 aggressors, who are on trial for an aggravated rape offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison. It is suspected that the number of aggressors could be as high as 83. At least 92 rapes occurred between July 2011 and October 2020. The newspaper Le Parisien has reported that several of the assailants are dead and one is on the run.
The victim refused to watch the videos of the rapes until May 2024, when she first watched the tapes of the sexual violence she had suffered for 10 years. Her description of what she witnessed speaks for itself: “Rape is not the word; it is barbarism”.
As a result of these abuses, and the drugs that had been administered for years by her husband, Gisèle suffered blackouts, intense and inexplicable fatigue, and discomfort that led to several visits to the gynecologist. The man responsible, Dominique Pélicot, could also be implicated in other cases of rape and even in a 1991 murder.
A system that objectifies and commodifies women’s bodies
We want to send all our support and solidarity to this brave woman, who, despite suffering from post-traumatic stress, has decided, together with her three children, to testify in open court in a trial that, in all likelihood, will drag on for months. As she herself declared before the Criminal Court of Vaucluse, in the southeast of France: “For me, the damage has already been done. I do so in the name of all the women who may never be recognized as victims”.
Beyond the horror and rejection the case elicits, it is one more sign that we live in a social and political order that is based on the control and oppression of women. It is what some feminists call “rape culture”, in which more than half of the sexual assaults, which are not always as easy to prove as this case, take place in the victim’s social, family, or work environment. And most of them are not reported, either out of fear or shame. It is this climate of impunity that some of these sexual predators rely on to commit their acts. On the other hand, the sex and entertainment industry of this increasingly violent and oppressive capitalist system objectifies, sexualizes, and commodifies our bodies, especially women’s, to such an extent that they become just another object, ready for consumption.
Only yes is yes, the rest is rape
Of the 51 men who have been summoned to the Avignon trial, some haved defended themselves by stating they were deceived by Dominique Pélicot, and they claim they were led to believe it was part of the couple’s “libertine delirium”. Others said they did not believe it was rape, “because her husband was there and they believed he could give consent for both of them.” So far, only 14 have pleaded guilty.
This trial, which has shocked French society by putting the question of consent front and center, is taking place in the context of an electoral rise of the far right, and at a time when the law regulating sexual crimes in Frances is under revision. There is talk of a “historic trial”, which would be considered the most serious rape case ever tried in France. It should be recalled that rape is currently defined in French law as an “act of sexual penetration” committed “by violence, coercion, threat or surprise”.
In France, as elsewhere in the world, we must come out and fight to change the law that defines and punishes sexual assault, to make it clear that sex without consent is rape. It must be clear that consent can be withdrawn at any time, and that there can be no consent if the sexual aggression is committed “abusing a state that prevents the judgment of the other”, as happens when the victim is drugged, the instances of which are increasingly frequent.
In the Spanish State, the Integral Law for the Guarantee of Sexual Freedom, better known as the “Solo Sí es Sí” (Only Yes is Yes) Law, came into force in October 2022, thanks to a struggle in the streets that lasted five long years. Unfortunately, it is a law that has many shortcomings and loopholes. Among several of its problems is that the economic resources that are to support all the non-criminal aspects of the law, including programs for prevention and sexual education in schools, have not yet been provided.
In spite of the above issues, we at Corriente Roja defend the law against attempts by the right and far-right to repeal it, because it was a demand that was won first in the streets, and which places the question of consent at the center of cases of sexual aggression.
But we cannot forget that no law can put an end to sexual violence in this system of oppression and exploitation. Sexual violence is a complex structural problem that needs to be addressed in many ways. Currently, this law is still no guarantee of anything, because the laws in favor of the working class and oppressed sectors in this capitalist system become a dead letter if we do not continue to fight to make them effective. And, above all, they are always threatened as long as capitalism exists.
It is also necessary to point out that experience shows that under bourgeois democracy, where the separation of powers is in reality a fiction, it is not enough to change laws. The judicial system in all countries is full of male chauvinist judges who often revictimize women when they dare to denounce sexual aggression and rape. These same judges often apply a very different yardstick according to the social class to which the person being judged belongs.
One example is what happened in the first months after the adoption of the Solo Sí es Sí law, when some judges interpreted and applied some of its articles in a whimsical way, in order to reduce the sentences already imposed on sexual offenders and pedophiles. In France, the defense lawyers of these rapists qualify the images as “sexual relations” and not rape, and have questioned the victim about her “sexual preferences and practices”, although the harsh images speak for themselves.
Achieving more resources to combat sexual violence and all forms of violence against women and oppressed sectors, such as migrants or LGTBQI people, is not only an issue that belongs to women or youth but the working class as a whole. It is necessary to organize so that working class organizations, starting with the unions, take these demands and make them their own, putting the whole working class and oppressed sectors at the forefront in the fight for them.