The verdict in the “Mazan rape” trial must be delivered this Thursday morning, a trial which has been going on since September. This trial, unique in its kind, has a strong and “positive” impact on the work of feminist associations, because for these organizations, there will necessarily be a before and after trial of the Mazan rapes. He is reshuffling the cards in the fight against sexist and sexual violence. An impact that these organizations consider “positive”, particularly in supporting women victims of domestic and sexual violence.
“Victims feel more legitimate”
Céline Elizabeth Bussi is the director of the association Issue de Secours Rialto SOS Femmes 38. For her, this trial changes the way we can support victims of violence. “This gives a breath of hope for all women victims“, she explains. “We have women who today come to move the lines and make people aware that yes, we can look up, we can confront, be accompanied” she adds. “We can say that in such serious and terrifying tragedies, that there is something that is carried within the framework of hope and social progress.” she concludes.
For her, this trial also highlights the profile of the accused and allows victims and public opinion to understand that no, an attacker is not necessarily just a stranger in the street. “We will have to bring something unthought into existence. That of being able to say that an aggressor can be someone well integrated into society, and also be capable of acts of abuse and violence. Today all of this can coexist in one and the same person” she added.
loading
“Forms of domestic violence exist without being well known”
There is therefore on the one hand the banal profile of these accused which is highlighted by this trial and on the other an observation: that the violence denounced by the Mazan trial, but also by other women, is banal explains Alice Santin-Jeanin, director of Establishment Pluri-Elles, an organization supporting victims of domestic violence, dependent on the Boissel foundation. “It is also the process of the trivialization of violence and the trivialization of gender domination.” she explains.
For her, this trial also, and above all, highlights types of domestic violence that are still poorly understood. Among them, marital rape and chemical submission. “It’s freeing the word there, so that it can be deposited in our structures, so that we can do something with it and bring them to justice.” she continues. “We have indeed, particularly in 3919, situations which have come to our attention, concerning women who come to question more about what they may be experiencing. For us these are real advances” she concludes.
In case of emergency, you can dial 3919.
