As we watched with horror as the Pelicot rape trial unfolded, more and more questions about the society we live in came to the surface
A friend of mine says that she has found herself unable to have sex with her boyfriend after following the Pelicot rape trial. Something uncomfortable has shifted within her. I hear similar things from many women I know – people quitting dating, people ending friendships, all of us handed a piece of knowledge it’s hard to hold on to while also living alongside men. I sat in a car with a guy friend talking about his previous confusion at women’s opposition to the “not all men” hashtag and he said, sort of low, I get it now. We feel ripples after a crime like this – a rock falls in a lake and generations of people get seasick, or gasp, or drown.
There was an image shared at the beginning of the trial that showed some of the 50 defendants queueing to be admitted to court. All had their faces turned away from the camera, and all were found guilty of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault. While the portrait of Gisèle Pelicot has become iconic, it’s this photo that for me feels like the defining image of the trial, as a portrait of dull and utter ordinariness. As a reminder that violence against women is not exceptional, or unexpected, or performed only by a handful of monsters. This queue of defendants were men aged between 26 and 74, normal men who included a nurse, lorry drivers and a journalist – all they had in common was that they lived nearish the Pelicot’s rural home and they fantasised about raping an unconscious woman.
Continue reading… As we watched with horror as the Pelicot rape trial unfolded, more and more questions about the society we live in came to the surfaceA friend of mine says that she has found herself unable to have sex with her boyfriend after following the Pelicot rape trial. Something uncomfortable has shifted within her. I hear similar things from many women I know – people quitting dating, people ending friendships, all of us handed a piece of knowledge it’s hard to hold on to while also living alongside men. I sat in a car with a guy friend talking about his previous confusion at women’s opposition to the “not all men” hashtag and he said, sort of low, I get it now. We feel ripples after a crime like this – a rock falls in a lake and generations of people get seasick, or gasp, or drown.There was an image shared at the beginning of the trial that showed some of the 50 defendants queueing to be admitted to court. All had their faces turned away from the camera, and all were found guilty of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault. While the portrait of Gisèle Pelicot has become iconic, it’s this photo that for me feels like the defining image of the trial, as a portrait of dull and utter ordinariness. As a reminder that violence against women is not exceptional, or unexpected, or performed only by a handful of monsters. This queue of defendants were men aged between 26 and 74, normal men who included a nurse, lorry drivers and a journalist – all they had in common was that they lived nearish the Pelicot’s rural home and they fantasised about raping an unconscious woman. Continue reading… Rape and sexual assault, Sex, Life and style, Society, Women
