Stéphane Burgatt // Photo credit: Christophe SIMON / AFP
08:13, October 7, 2024
At the Mazan rape trial, of the 51 accused, 50 were accused of rape or attempted rape, and the majority refuted these accusations. They have a kind of double talk that is not always easy to decode. A trial which highlights the problem of recognition of consent.
It’s a pretty perilous balancing act on the stand or in the dock. These men who admit that Gisèle Pelicot is indeed a victim of rape, but who at the same time do not recognize the charges against them.
“They recognize something, they don’t recognize the intention of”
Translation, they are not rapists, because they did not intend to commit rape. One of the accused also assured that he did not know what consent was at the time. This trial must precisely serve to deconstruct this type of argument, recognizes Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Maître Navarro.
“We go backwards a lot in this pattern of thinking. And afterwards, there are some who say ‘Since the gentleman was there, she had consented’. I always thought that this file will have a before and an after and that it will bear perhaps the reflection of some. They recognize something, they do not recognize the intention of. The Court will appreciate that the videos, from this point of view, are quite telling.
Videos which actually show men whispering and withdrawing at the slightest gesture from Gisèle Pelicot, an inconsistency noted by the attorney general. How in this case can we maintain that they were not taking advantage of this forced sleep to help themselves?
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