In just a few weeks, gestures of support have become unifying rituals. The applause greeting Gisèle Pelicot as she leaves the courtroom is now joined by the voices of the feminist choir assembled in Avignon. The massive presence of the public and the press testifies to the scale of the emotion that the French mass rape trial has been generating for almost two months.

This response owes much to the horrifying scenario orchestrated over 10 years by the main defendant, this "perfect man," as his wife described Dominique Pelicot to the gendarmes when she first gave evidence, a quiet retiree on trial for drugging her in order to rape her and have her raped by strangers in her sleep more than 200 times.

The shocked reverberations caused by this trial are also due to the 50 co-defendants and their insistence on repeating that they are not rapists and that they acted "without intention," since they thought that "being invited by the husband is to be invited by the couple."

By having the courage, on the first day of the trial, to ask for it not to be held behind closed doors, Gisèle Pelicot opened a new chapter in the history of the fight against sexual violence and sparked a much-needed public debate on the mechanisms of rape, its permanence and the origins of its denial, as well as on the central question of consent.

"There's no doubt that, in its power and impact, the Mazan rape case is already one of those major trials that have marked history and served as catalysts, accelerating the evolution of consciousness and legislative changes," commented historian Christine Bard, author of Féminismes: 150 Ans d'Idées Reçues ("Feminism: 150 years of preconceived ideas"), referring to the town in which Gisèle Pelicot and her husband lived. "Beyond the collective emotion aroused by the facts, reactions to this case illustrate a cultural turning point," observed philosopher Sandra Laugier.

This turning point is largely due to the analytical keys now available for thinking about acts long considered unthinkable, and for identifying their driving forces. Five decades of feminist research and gender studies have brought to light the anthropological roots of rape, and the system of domination and power in which it is embedded, while identifying the far-reaching reforms needed to change the situation.

Centuries of domination

Previously confined to history or social science journals and debates between specialists, notions such as rape culture, the male domination system, and the objectification and alienation of women are now appearing in the top stories on TV news and on the front pages of newspapers. These topics now have a place at the table for family lunches or discussions between colleagues, in an unprecedented development in feminist education. "As a direct result of the Mazan rape case, awareness has crossed a milestone and now extends far beyond the traditional audience," noted historian Christelle Taraud, who edited the book Féminicides. Une histoire mondiale ("Femicides: A World History").

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