Gisele Pelicot’s mass rape trial in France and other equally harrowing sexual violence cases have sparked outrage around the world. So what’s being done to prevent such gender-based violence?
Gender-based violence, defined as violence directed against a person because of their biological or social gender, is omnipresent.
According to estimates by the World Health Organization, almost one in three women worldwide has experienced either physical and/or sexual violence in her lifetime.
In addition to the highly publicized #MeToo movement in the United States, campaigns such as #aufschrei in Germany, mass protests in Mexico and India against rape and femicide or, most recently, the case of Gisele Pelicot in France can raise awareness, but change happens only if politicians and the judiciary follow suit.
France: Gisele Pelicot becomes a feminist icon
The case of Gisele Pelicot has shocked France and the entire world. The 72-year-old was drugged by her husband for years and abused by him and other men. Her husband filmed 200 incidents, footage that is now serving as evidence in the ongoing trial against him and 50 other men.
A key aspect of the case is that Gisele Pelicot explicitly campaigned for the trial to take place publicly, “so that the shame changes sides.”
To show their support for Pelicot and other victims of sexualized violence, several thousand people took to the streets in cities across France in September, chanting, among other things: “We are all Gisele!”
While this has brought fundamental aspects of violence against women back into focus in France, it’s not nearly enough, said Elke Ferner, chairwoman of the UN Women organization in Germany. The politician and long-standing expert on women’s rights believes that changes to French criminal law are needed.
“There is not even a ‘no means no’ rule, according to which sexual acts against the recognizable will of the other person would be punishable,” she said. “Instead, in France, active resistance must have taken place for it to be considered rape in court.”
India: Discrimination and misogyny persist
The rape and murder of a female assistant doctor recently caused outrage in India. In early August, the 31-year-old was found dead in a state hospital in Kolkata, the capital of the state of West Bengal. The latest of many rape cases in the world’s most populous country sparked massive protests. State hospital workers went on strike and West Bengal tightened the penalties for rape.
Indian doctors stage strike over murder of trainee
For many Indians, the crime brings back memories of the brutal gang rape of a student on a bus in the capital New Delhi in 2012. The 23-year-old died due to severe internal injuries. Back then, the protests and public outrage were even greater than now, Indian women’s rights activist Ranjana Kumari told DW.
The situation is sobering, said Kumari, the director of the Centre for Social Research in New Delhi and chairwoman of Women Power Connect, a coalition of women’s organizations. “When you look at the data, the crime has increased. Not just the domestic violence but also the public space crime in terms of rape and also bullying and harassing women on the streets,” she said.
“And what is very shocking and upsetting is that more crime is happening with the women coming from the minority community. And from the underprivileged Dalit,” she added, referring to the group lowest in the Indian caste system.
The sexual violence reflects the patriarchal and misogynistic structures of Indian society, in which change to social norms is sluggish, said Kumari. Although laws have been tightened and new programs launched in recent years, much of this remains theory rather than practice, she added.
There have been repeated cases of authorities trying to cover things up, with officials sometimes refusing to accept reports from women. “Cases take 10 to 15 years to come to any kind of justice. So what is failing are these institutions.You must start delivering justice, otherwise the the criminals get emboldened,” she said.
News Source: DW News
