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Thousands of people have taken part in nationwide protests in France demanding better protection of women amid a high-profile rape case currently awaiting a verdict in court.<\/p>\n
The CGT trade union spoke of 100,000 participants at the rallies on Saturday, including 80,000 in Paris.<\/p>\n
Police estimated the number of demonstrators nationwide at 20,000, the broadcaster France Info reported, with more rallies planned for Monday.<\/p>\n
The protests are linked to a prominent trial in the south of France, which is due to end in the next few days.<\/p>\n
The main defendant is Dominique Pelicot, who, according to the indictment, drugged and abused his ex-wife Gis\u00e8le Pelicot for almost ten years and offered her to other men to be assaulted.<\/p>\n
Pelicot, who is now 72, believes she was raped around 200 times.<\/p>\n
Her former husband confessed in court. In addition to him, 50 other men who were charged face up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n
The trial in Avignon has triggered a shockwave in France with calls for better protection of women.<\/p>\n
The case has also reignited the debate on sexual consent.<\/p>\n
Activists have long been calling for sexual acts to be explicitly consented to and for this to be enshrined in criminal law in a reform known as “yes means yes.”<\/p>\n
Alleged perpetrators would then be unable able to argue in court that they did not know about the lack of consent.<\/p>\n
The French parliament is currently considering a proposal to amend the law on the definition of sexual violence.<\/p>\n
According to the CGT, further demonstrations are planned in the southern city of Avignon on Monday.<\/p>\n
The trade union saw the number of participants as a sign that sexual violence against women, ranging from sexual harassment to homicides directed against the female sex – femicides- is finally being brought to light in public.<\/p>\n
In Germany too, the Pelicot case has strongly resonated, with protest actions planned in numerous cities to mark Monday’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.<\/p>\n
Events will include a rally at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin with an address by Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus.<\/p>\n
Paus, together with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the Federal Criminal Police Office, recently presented figures showing that more and more women in Germany are affected by violence.<\/p>\n
In 2023, 938 girls and women in Germany were victims of attempted or completed femicide, resulting in 360 deaths, according to official statistics cited by the ministers.<\/p>\n
“Despite these alarming figures, women’s shelters and counselling centres in Germany are still underfunded,” leading members of the Left Party said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n