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.

    • JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      24
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      20 hours ago

      No, no one is complicit in anything by their very existence. You don’t get to blame people for other people doing something bad in a group they didn’t choose to belong to.

    • Feathercrown@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      18 hours ago

      actually decent men are aware that they are complicit by their very existence as men under the patriarchy

      Could you fucking imagine saying this about any other group of people

    • Fox@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      20 hours ago

      actually decent men are aware that they are complicit by their very existence as men under the patriarchy, and invest their energy in being better and calling out their fellow men to try and improve your collective reputation

      This is bald-faced, shameless bigotry and reflects a real lack of self awareness

      • where_am_i@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        10 hours ago

        I do do that for approximately those reasons. And I want to slap the fuck out of whoever wrote this text just as much as you.