Mass rape trial sparks demonstrations in France
PARIS—Tens of thousands demonstrated in major French cities on Saturday against violence targeting women, as campaigners push for the country to learn from a mass rape trial that has shocked the public.
The prosecution in the city of Avignon is in its final stages for 51 men, including one who drugged his wife over the course of a decade and dozens of others charged with accepting his invitations to abuse her at their home. Out on the street, “the more of us there are, the more visible we are, this is everyone’s business, not just women,” said a demonstrator.
Thousands of people marched in the capital. Police put the turnout there at 12,500, while organizers said 80,000. Hundreds also turned out in other major cities including Marseille in the south, Lille in the northeast and Rennes in the northwest.
Local officials in Bordeaux, in the southwest, put the turnout there at 1,600. Many demonstrators carried signs with variations on the slogan “Shame must switch sides,” popularized by the plaintiff in the Avignon trial, Gisele Pelicot.
