They line up in front of a courthouse in southeastern France, from morning to evening, and have gathered in the thousands in cities across the country. They hold signs reading, “one rape every six minutes,” “not all men but always a man,” and “giving in is not consenting.”

They chant: “Rapist we see you, victim we believe you.”

Women across France are rallying in support of Gisèle Pelicot, a 72-year-old reluctant icon whose husband is on trial in the city of Avignon for systematically drugging her and inviting dozens of men, 50 of whom are now his co-defendants, into their home to rape her over nearly a decade.

The shocking case has sparked what many women in France call a long-overdue reckoning over “rape culture” and systemic sexism in the way the judicial system handles sexual violence.

          • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            How about you just say you don’t care about women and you are also sexist? Would be way easier for you, too.

            • MellowYellow13@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              Cause I do care, I dont hold up signs that say I’m racist or sexist either or normalize it and say it’s ok like you do

              • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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                2 days ago

                That’s true and a good viewpoint. I guess I was just in a bad head space at the time of my commenting from what I have experienced myself and maybe taking it out on you. I apologize for that.

          • EndlessApollo@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            There’s a BLM protest over the police shooting an innocent black person 100+ times while they had their hands up. Someone posts about it on lemmy. A bunch of white people come to the thread and mention that the protest is bad because they’ve also been abused by police, and one (1) person there had a sign that says “fuck white people”. They say that sign is evil and racist and spoils the whole protest, and that the protest is garbage anyway because aLl LIveS mAtTEr and how dare they only protest violence against black people? White people are victims too! And BLM is a bunch of racist assholes who hate all white people for not catering to them 24/7 and having the gall to protest issues they disproportionately face rather than protesting for all victims of police violence.

            This is you, to the letter. This is you and every other man coming here to distract from the issue at hand bc your issue is more important and bc you don’t give a shit about the people protesting or the fact that they face disproportionate amounts of violence.

            This Is Not About You

            If there ever is a protest against raping men, I hope nobody trolls it with the same AllLivesMatter bullshit that you are here

            • MellowYellow13@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              I’ve been abused, abuse is about me you ignorant and sexist fuck. You dont get to decide what is about me and what isn’t

              • EndlessApollo@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                If you want a protest about you, organize one. And again, I hope it’s not criticized and counterprotested by people like you who want to hijack it and make it all about them

                • MellowYellow13@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  lol shows how much you know about all of this, you dont even think it’s criticized, fucking yikes

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 months ago

      Then put that on the sign, not “always men” ffs. The sign is a lie and a problem and the fact that you can’t see that means you’re part of that problem.

        • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          3 months ago

          To be quite frank, the vast majority of sexual violence against women is perpetrated by men. The vast majority of all sexual violence is against women.

          Oh thank you for clarifying why you think me being raped is insignificant and doesn’t matter. Wanna go for the rest of the hits while we’re here? “You must have enjoyed it because you’re a man” and “she was hot you should consider yourself lucky,” or who could forget the classic “get over it pussy?”

          Fine, if there’s nothing left to say, then say nothing. That’ll be better than what you’ve been doing.

            • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              3 months ago

              Hell no I’ll advocate for myself and those like me until my fingers fall off to combat people like you, how 'bout you quit trying to silence rape victims, hmm?

              • EndlessApollo@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                You’re not advocating for yourself my guy, you’re advocating against women. Do this on your own a post, the garbage you’re spewing here does literally nothing for men, you’re just shitting on a movement full of women for daring to protest for their rights and not yours specifically

                • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  3 months ago

                  I’ll do this wherever it is relevant, like under a post that says “always a man.” Guess what? Both times I was raped it was a woman, clearly not “always a man.” Just admit you don’t care about male victims either, we’re literally all used to it. What is it “I must have enjoyed it because I’m a man” hmm?