It’s time for the shame of the victims to be transferred to the perpetrators!

Mom, have you heard of the “51 in France”? It’s terrible, Mom! No, what are you talking about? That’s when a quick Google search reveals the facts of the case, and a wave of outrage and also shame reverberates through my body. Shame on her, on me and on all women. Reality is once again harder than fiction, no matter how distorted it is. No matter how much “progress and achievements” we are told we have made in civilized and democratic Europe, the brutal reality reminds us that for some men we are still “their” property. And what’s even worse is that they are not alone.

By Laura R. – Corriente Roja, Spain

The facts: “Rape is not the word, it is barbarism”.

Gisèle, 67, a resident of the city of Mazan in southeastern France, was raped repeatedly by more than fifty men over a decade. During this time, her husband Dominique Pélicot, a 71-year-old retiree, offered the “sexual services of a sleepwalking and obedient woman” on a web portal that was closed by the French police in June this year. This same web portal operated a now dismantled child pornography distribution network that extended to eight countries in both Europe and America.

In relation to the case, which is being heard in Avignon, authorities have identified 51 aggressors, who are on trial for a serious crime of rape, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Although it is suspected that the number of aggressors could be as many as 83. At least ninety-two rapes occurred between July 2011 and October 2020. The newspaper Le Parisien has reported that several attackers are dead and one is on the run.

The victim refused to watch the videos of the rapes until May 2024, when she first watched the tapes of the sexual violence she had suffered for a decade. Her description of what she saw speaks for itself: “Rape is not the word, it is barbarism.”

As a result of these abuses and the medications her husband had administered for years, Gisèle suffered from blackouts, intense and inexplicable fatigue and discomfort that led to several visits to the gynecologist. The man responsible, Dominique Pélicot, could also be involved in other rape cases and even a 1991 murder.

A system that objectifies and commodifies women’s bodies

We would like to express all our support and solidarity to this courageous woman who, despite suffering from post-traumatic stress, has decided to testify in open court together with her three children in a trial that is likely to continue. for months. As she herself stated before the Criminal Court of Vaucluse, in south-eastern France: “For me, the damage has already been done. I do this on behalf of all women who may never be recognized as victims.”

In addition to the horror and rejection this case brings, it is another sign that we live in a social and political order based on the control and oppression of women. It is what some feminists call ‘rape culture’, in which more than half of sexual assaults, which are not always as easy to prove as this case, take place in the victim’s social, family or work environment. And most of them go unreported, out of fear or shame. It is this climate of impunity that some of these sexual predators rely on to commit their acts. On the other hand, the sex and entertainment industry of this increasingly violent and oppressive capitalist system objectifies, sexualizes and commodifies our bodies, especially women’s, to such an extent that they become simply an object, ready for consumption.

Only Yes is Yes, the rest is rape

Of the 51 men summoned to the Avignon trial, some have defended themselves by claiming they had been misled by Dominique Pélicot, claiming they had come to believe this was part of the couple’s ‘libertine delirium’. Others said they didn’t believe it was rape, “because her husband was there and they believed he could consent to both of them.” So far, only 14 have pleaded guilty.

This process, which has shocked French society by putting the issue of consent at its center, takes place in the context of an electoral rise of the far right, and at a time when the law regulating sexual crimes in Frances is under review. There is talk of a “historic trial” that would be considered the most serious rape case ever tried in France. It should be remembered that rape is currently defined in French law as an “act of sexual penetration” committed “by force, coercion, threat or surprise”.

In France, as elsewhere in the world, we must come out and fight to change the law that defines and punishes sexual violence, to make it clear that sex without consent is rape. It must be clear that consent can be withdrawn at any time, and that there can be no consent if the sexual aggression is committed ‘with the abuse of a state that prevents the judgment of the other’, as happens when the victim is drugged is becoming. that are becoming increasingly common.

In the Spanish state, the Integral Law for the Guarantee of Sexual Freedom, better known as the ‘Solo Sí es Sí’ law (Only Yes is Yes), came into force in October 2022, thanks to a struggle on the streets that lasted five months. long years. Unfortunately, it is a law that has many shortcomings and loopholes. One of the problems is that the economic resources to support all non-criminal aspects of the law, including prevention and sex education programs in schools, have not yet been provided.

Despite the above issues, we at Corriente Roja defend the law against attempts by the right and far right to repeal it, because it was a demand first won on the streets and which puts the issue of consent at its heart. of cases of sexual aggression.

But we must remember that no law can put an end to sexual violence in this system of oppression and exploitation. Sexual violence is a complex structural problem that needs to be addressed in many ways. Currently, this law is still no guarantee of anything, because the laws in favor of the working class and oppressed sectors in this capitalist system become a dead letter if we do not continue to fight to make them effective. And above all, they are always under threat as long as capitalism exists.

It is also necessary to point out that experience shows that under bourgeois democracy, where the separation of powers is in reality a fiction, it is not enough to change laws. The legal system in all countries is full of male chauvinist judges who often re-victimize women if they dare to charge sexual aggression and rape. These same judges often apply a completely different standard, depending on the social class to which the judge belongs.

An example is what happened in the first months after the passage of the Solo Sí es Sí law, when some judges interpreted and applied some of its articles in a capricious way, in order to reduce the sentences already imposed on sex offenders and pedophiles . In France, lawyers for these rapists classify the images as “sexual relations” and not rape, and have questioned the victim about her “sexual preferences and practices,” although the harsh images speak for themselves.

Obtaining more resources to combat sexual violence and all forms of violence against women and oppressed sectors such as migrants or LGTBQI people is not only an issue that concerns women or young people, but the working class as a whole. It is necessary to organize in such a way that working class organizations, starting with the trade unions, take up these demands and make them their own, bringing the entire working class and the oppressed sectors to the forefront in the struggle for them .