Paris : “The Rape Capital of the World”

December 22, 2024by Phil Orenstein in Club News tagged America, Club, France, GOP, Lincoln Dinner, New York City, Paris, Queens Village, QVGOP, Rape, Republican, Trump, USA

When growing up in the later part of the last century, the word “RAPE” was strictly taboo and considered derogatory.

The word “RAPE” has long been a forbidden topic due to the discomfort and emotional charge it brings. Our society’s strong norms around sexuality and violence make it difficult to openly discuss such issues, leading to a significant amount of stigma surrounding sexual violence.

Victims often feel ashamed or fearful of judgment, leading to silence and secrecy.

What’s considered as Rape?

Rape is defined as a non-consensual sexual act forced upon someone against their will, involving a lack of valid consent.

It is a serious crime and a profound violation of a person’s autonomy and rights, characterized by the absence of consent and the use of force, coercion, or manipulation.

What’s Rape definition as per French Law?

As per the French Law, Rape is defined as:

• “Sexual aggression is any sexual assault committed with violence, constraint, threat or surprise.” (Article 222.22 of the penal code).

• “Any act of sexual penetration, whatever its nature, committed against another person by violence, constraint, threat or surprise, is rape” (Article 222.23 of the penal code).

A person who commits attempted rape is deemed to have committed the completed offense (article 121-4 of the penal code).

Rape and attempted rape are crimes subject to the same penalties before the Assize Court.

Sexual assaults other than rape are offenses tried before the criminal court.

Bitter Truth of Narcoleptic French Society

The alarming surge in rape cases in France is a pressing issue that demands immediate attention. Despite official crime reports indicating a high number of reported incidents, many cases go unreported due to societal stigma, fear of retribution, and distrust of law enforcement.

Studies reveal that a significant proportion of French women experience sexual violence, highlighting the urgent need for action.

Deep-seated gender inequality and patriarchal norms perpetuate the prevalence of sexual violence in France.

The high-profile cases such as the Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case (2011), The Weinstein Effect (2017), and The Olivier Duhamel Case (2021) expose the dark underbelly of French society. It is imperative to address these issues through comprehensive education, advocacy, and robust support for survivors.

During the live debate on the French news channel BFMTV on May 27^th 2024, French MEP Manon Aubry (La France Insoumise, GUE/NGL) said that “86% of rapes are committed by French nationals”[1].

“When it comes to sexual violence – especially domestic violence – there is a feeling that this is a private affair that should remain behind closed doors,” says Janine Bonaggiunta, a Paris-based lawyer who specializes in domestic violence. Victims of sexual assault have the right to keep their identity private during criminal proceedings in France, and most, she adds, exercise that right. “There are always fears of a backlash, threats, and harassment.[2]”

Moreover, recent revelations from French actresses about harassment and assault have sparked crucial conversations about sexism in the industry.

Furthermore, the “The French Dispatch” controversy has brought to the forefront the challenges faced by French women in the entertainment industry. While not directly related to rape, the series has ignited discussions about representation and the treatment of women in French cinema.

This spotlight on the industry’s shortcomings reinforces the urgency of addressing gender-based issues in the nefarious cabal French society.

Now let’s have a glimpse of the rape culture of France.

Gisèle Pelicot Rape For More Than A Decade Sponsored By Her Pimp Husband (September 2024)

Gisèle Pelicot outside French Courtroom (Source :CSM)

The rape of 72 years old Gisèle Pelicot has horrified not only France but the entire world, especially as many of the co-accused are seemingly ordinary men with everyday jobs, and several of the suspects remain at large.

The horrifying details of the case that shook the country, and the local mayor’s reaction, show a refusal to confront abuse.

As the horror of how Dominique Pelicot drugged his wife, Gisèle, and allowed at least 83 men to rape her continued to unfold in a French courtroom as it was hard to see how the case “could have been worse” as it progresses in future.

The accused are between the ages of 21 and 68 many married with children and with run-of-the mill jobs, like a forklift driver, a journalist, an officer and a business owner.

The men were allegedly instructed to avoid using cologne or aftershave so as to not wake Gisèle, who one expert testified was “closer to a coma than to sleep.” They didn’t use condoms one alleged assailant who is reportedly HIV-positive assaulted Gisèle six times, according to the legal report[3].

Louis Bonnet, mayor of Mazan, the southern French town of 6,000 people where the Pelicots and a number of the alleged rapists lived, who added that “no one was killed”, later apologised and admitted his words were not “entirely appropriate”[4].

For French feminists and women’s activists, however, Bonnet’s ill-judged comments encapsulated how France has failed to respond to the #MeToo movement and is “abysmally” lagging behind in addressing sexual abuse socially and legally.

France Renowned Striker Wissam Ben Yedder Charged Of Sexual Assault While
Drunk (September 2024)

Source: Associated Press

France soccer player Wissam Ben Yedder was taken in custody in early September 2024 and will stand trial on charges of “Sexual Assault in The State of Inebriation.”

Ben Yedder was arrested after a woman born in 2001 filed a lawsuit for sexual assault. The alleged events took place on Friday night in Ben Yedder’s car, the newspaper added.

Later French soccer star Wissam Ben Yedder was set free ahead of his trial on charges of sexual assault while intoxicated.

Ben Yedder attended a hearing on September 17th and offered to go to rehab. During the trial, the player admitted he drove while under the influence of alcohol but strongly denied any sexual assault.

However, in a separate legal case last year, Ben Yedder was charged with “rape, attempted rape and sexual assault” over another alleged incident in the south of France.

Australian Women Raped During Paris Olympics (August 2024)

Source ABC News

A 25-year-old Australian woman was raped by five men in Paris, days before the city is set to host the 2024 Olympic Games.

The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed officers were investigating the charge of gang rape, “likely to have been committed on the night of July 19 to 20, 2024”.

Reports of the alleged assault in the early hours of Saturday morning in the French capital’s famous Montmartre party precinct began circulating in French media on Monday.

A spokesperson for the police union told the ABC he was the source of those reports and confirmed “a young, distressed-looking Australian woman, 25-years-old, fled into a kebab shop at around 5am” on Boulevard de Clichy.

The police union spokesperson claimed the woman did not speak French and didn’t provide much information about when and where the incident occurred.

“There’s not a lot of detail and information that’s come through, and what information we’re passing onto our athletes is that the security presence is really, really high for them to be able to act as quickly as possible and keep them safe,” Team Australia chef de mission Anna Meares said.

“We are encouraging them, if they go out of the Village, not to go out on their own, not to wear [the] team uniform, just to wear plain clothes, and we’re just waiting on further information on the actual case itself.[5]“

Last year, the head of the Paris Olympics claimed the French capital would be “the safest place in the world” during the global sporting event.

Again, questions have been raised about women’s safety in Paris?

French Rugby Players Charged with Rape in Argentina (July 2024)

French Rugby Players Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou (Source: Associated Press)

Two French rugby national team players, Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou aged 21-years were arrested in early July of 2024 after a Argentina woman filed a complaint accusing them of repeatedly raping her.

The rugby players have admitted to having sex with the plaintiff — whom they met at a Mendoza nightclub while reveling in their July 7 victory against Argentina’s Pumas — but insisted that the encounter was consensual.

The account of the assault provided by Natacha Romano, the lawyer of the woman has drawn outrage in France and caused a stir in Argentina, where recent scandals involving professional athletes have prompted questions within the greater sports community about misogyny and sexual violence.

Romano has said her client says she met one of the rugby players, Auradou, at a nightclub where the team was celebrating their win and went back to his hotel room for another drink. She says Auradou became violent, subjecting her to non-consensual sexual acts and preventing her from leaving before Jegou joined in the assaults some hour later, Romano said[6].

The harrowing testimony of a 39-year-old Argentine woman who alleged she was beaten, choked and repeatedly raped by the rugby players in their luxury hotel room has transfixed the professional rugby world and shined a light on what critics call a toxic male culture in elite sports[7].

However, in early September, the players charged with aggravated sexual assault in Argentina headed back to France, nearly two months after their stunning arrest in the South American nation.

Gang Rape of 12 year old Jewish Girl in Paris Suburb (June 2024)

Protest against rape of Jewish Girl (Source: CBS News)

In June 2024, the whole world was shocked when Jewish girl aged 12, was raped in Paris suburb.

The little Jewish girl’s rape has deeply shocked and alarmed the world, particularly in light of the increased incidents of anti-Semitism in France.

President Emmanuel Macron has taken action by urging schools to organize a “discussion hour” for teachers to engage their students in conversations about racism and anti-Semitism following this incident.

The girl reported the rape in the town of Courbevoie on Saturday, and three boys, aged 12 and 13, were detained, according to the regional prosecutor’s office. It said two of the boys were given multiple preliminary charges on Tuesday, including aggravated gang rape on a minor younger than 15, violence and public insult motivated by religion, death threats, attempted extortion and unlawfully recording or broadcasting sexual images[8].

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin Rape Case Dropped (February 2024)

Source: CNN

In February 2024, France’s highest appeal court confirmed a decision to drop an investigation into a rape allegation against Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, ending a long-running legal saga.

The case was thrown out in 2018, but reopened again.

Lower courts had confirmed a decision by judges and prosecutors to drop an investigation into an allegation made by Sophie Patterson-Spatz that Darmanin raped her in 2009. He was never charged in the case.

“This decision marks the end of a procedure that has lasted for seven years and concerns alleged events going back nearly 15 years[9]”

Gérald Darmanin has consistently denied the allegations, originally brought against him in 2017, insisting that the sexual encounter with Sophie Patterson-Spatz was fully consensual.

Sophie Patterson-Spatz asked Darmanin if he could help her to revise her legal file by erasing charges of bribery and threatening phone calls to a former partner, of which she had been found guilty in 2005.

Ms Patterson-Spatz alleges that Darmanin agreed to write a letter to the legal recorder, supporting her effort. She claims that he demanded sex in return. “You will have to help me too,” he allegedly said. Both parties agree that sexual relations ensued.

While Darmanin says he was seduced by a charming and determined young woman, Patterson-Spatz claims that she was forced to have sex against her will[10].

Although about a dozen activists were gathered outside the interior ministry chanting “Darmanin rapist, state complicit.” They were quickly removed by the police.

Nevertheless, Macron and his government have stood behind his minister.

“He, like everyone else, has the right to the presumption of innocence,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said.

Islamic Scholar Tariq Ramadan Faces Two Rape Charges In France Among Others
(May 2023)

Source (Inside NOVA)

Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss national, was charged in France with raping a disabled woman in 2009 and a feminist activist in 2012.

Ramadan, a father of four whose grandfather founded Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University until he was forced to take leave when rape allegations surfaced at the height of the “Me Too” movement in late 2017.

He was taken into custody in February 2018 and held for over nine months before being granted bail on claims that he raped two women in France, one in 2009 and the other in 2012[11].

Muslim scholar Ramadan is in fact suspected of raping three women between 2009 and 2016.

In May 2023, now 60 years old, Tariq Ramadan, has appeared in court in Switzerland accused of subjecting a woman to sexual acts, beatings and insults, while French judges have yet to rule on whether to send Ramadan for trial on charges of raping four women.

Authorities in Switzerland are also investigating him after receiving a rape complaint in that country. As per Geneva appeals court it had found the 62-year-old former Oxford University professor “GUILTY OF RAPE AND SEXUAL COERCION” of a woman in a Geneva hotel[12].

American Tourist Raped In Public Toilet in Central Paris (August 2022)

In August 2022, a 23-year-old man has been charged and remanded in custody after an American tourist was raped in a public toilet in the centre of Paris, in a case that has caused shock in the busy riverside area that was considered safe.

The woman, 27, was out with her partner on Saturday night by the River Seine in the heart of Paris’s tourist district, not far from Notre Dame Cathedral and Paris’s city hall.

The local paper Le Parisien reported that the woman’s partner waited for her but grew concerned she was taking a long time. He approached the toilet and heard crying, then found his partner being attacked[13].

Jean-Luc Brunel Accused Of Supplying Girls To Epstein

Jean-Luc Brunel, the former head of a French model agency was accused of rape in the 1990s and later of supplying young girls to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Brunel was being held as part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged rape of minors and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation.

Several models had accused him of sexual assault and rape, and French police had interviewed many potential witnesses in the case.

Among his alleged victims was Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who previously said in court documents that Epstein pressured her to have sex with Brunel when she was a teenager.

Former model Thysia Huisman, 48, who accused Brunel of spiking her drink and raping her when she was 18 in 1991, also expressed her dismay. “This is a completely different ending without any real justice for his victims,” she tweeted.

“I’m really disappointed, shocked and frustrated,” she later told The Washington Post on Saturday.

“I wanted to see him in front of a judge, which would’ve been the best closure“ model Huisman added.

In February 2022, Jean-Luc Brunel was found hanged in his Paris prison cell. The French Penitentiary Administration confirmed his death in La Santé prison to The Washington Post[14].

Brunel was a close associate of Epstein’s — and the two men’s deaths were similar in nature.

In August 2019, Jeffrey Epstein, 66, also died by suicide in his prison cell while awaiting his own trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

Pathetic French Judiciary System by Downgrading The Charges From Rape To
Sexual Assault (March 2021)

Source: Courthousenews

In March 2021, France’s highest appeal court, the Cour de cassation, on Wednesday examined the case of Julie, a young woman who accuses 22 Paris firemen of raping her over a two-year period when she was aged between 13 and 15. The accused claim the child consented to the sexual relations, and at the end of a ten-year investigation just three of them face trial for sexual abuse after criminal charges of rape were dropped.

The feminist and child protection associations supporting her cause, hopes the case against the accused will be amended to rape.

However, the top French court ruled against upgrading the charges against three firefighters accused of having sex with a teenage girl from sexual assault to rape, the latest decision in a case that helped fuel efforts to set a legal age of sexual consent in France.

The victim has accused the firefighters of repeatedly raping her more than a decade ago, when she was between 13 and 15 years old. The accused men have acknowledged they had sex with her, but insist the activity was consensual.

The woman and her mother appealed a lower court ruling that downgraded the charges from rape to sexual assault, which carries a shorter maximum prison sentence. Their lawyers argued that the French justice system doesn’t do enough to protect children from sexual violence by adults.

But France’s Court of Cassation ruled against reclassifying the charges, saying there “were insufficient charges against anyone for committing acts of rape.”

The three accused firefighters now will go back to court to be prosecuted for sexual assault[15].

Well Renowned Paris’ Viral Graffiti Artist Accused of Serial Rape (July 2020)

Source: The Daily Beast

In July 2020, author Erin Zaleski in her article “Paris’ Viral Graffiti Artist Is Accused of Serial Rape” in Newspaper Daily Beast wrote a blurb, “Wilfrid A. used to write “Love roams the streets” all over Montmartre. Thousands of strangers were charmed. But not dozens of women who say he assaulted or raped them”.

A group, of 25 women have filed complaints for rape and sexual assault covering 11 years against a graffiti artist, identified as Wilfrid A, who has acquired a certain celebrity in Paris for his recurrent tags announcing, ‘love runs about the streets’, some of which have now been re-tagged with ‘Rapist’ replacing ‘Love’.

Written in plain black script with a bit of a flourish at the end, it reads “L’amour court les rues” ( “love roams the streets”) and has decorated everything from walls to crosswalks to discarded mattresses.

Identified in the French media as Wilfrid A., the artist would comb the site for images of his graffiti. If a young, attractive woman had posted a photo he would pounce. The fifty-something’s approach was always the same.

First, he would like or comment on the image, and then he would begin sending private messages to the woman in question. The messages typically involved invitations for photo shoots at his photography studio or a drink at one of Montmartre’s dive bars.

He often targeted would-be models, some underage, offering photoshoots or promising to put them in touch with fashion industry insiders. Such overtures weren’t limited to social media. He also approached young women on the streets of Paris with a similar tactic: compliments on their appearance followed by invitations for photo sessions.

“I ran into this man about once a year,” one young woman told the French magazine NEON. “He would always stop me to tell me that he was a photographer and that he wanted to take pictures of me.”

The young woman refused, but it didn’t prevent Wilfrid A. from cornering her any time their paths crossed.

“What’s sad is that this started when I was in junior high school, so I was around 13 or 14 years old,” she remembered.

Dozens of other young women and girls did agree to a shoot, however. And the events that enfolded are as similar as they are chilling. In accounts published in French media, the women describe a dingy Montmartre apartment instead of a professional studio along with offers to drink alcohol or take drugs.

“‘You need to relax, to loosen up,’ he would say. Then the abuse would start. ”

“He touched my neck, my shoulders, my back, he brought his lips about a centimeter from my mouth,” one young woman told NEON.

“I pulled away and he said ‘relax, I am not going to kiss you. It’s just to put you at ease.[16]’”

The touching would then allegedly escalate, sometimes culminating in rape.

The word “l’amour” has been crossed out and “le violeur” has been scrawled above it: “Le violeur court les rues.”, which means ”The rapist roams the streets.”

French Ice Skating Boss Quits Amid Sex Abuse Scandal (February 2020)

Source : BBC

BBC blurb says, “The long-time head of France’s ice sports federation has resigned amid a sexual abuse scandal in figure skating”.

In February 2020, the French Ice Sports Federation (FFSG) head Didier Gailhaguet, 66, stepped down.

While quitting he said: “I have taken the wise decision to resign from my post… I have taken this decision with composure, with dignity, but without any bitterness before this injustice.[17]“

Earlier, French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu asked Mr Gailhaguet to resign.

Mr. Gailhaguet had led the federation almost continuously since 1998 – there was a hiatus between 2004 and 2007 after the International Skating Union suspended him over the judging scandal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.

In an autobiography released last week, champion figure skater Sarah Abitbol alleged her former coach Gilles Beyer abused her when she was a teenager. Ms Abitbol, who is now 44, said she was aged 15 when it first happened.

Mr Beyer has admitted to “intimate” and “inappropriate” relations with her, and said he was “sincerely sorry”.

Three other skaters have accused Mr Beyer and two other coaches namely Jean-Roland Racle and Michel Lotz, who are all from the FFSG – of abusing and raping them when they were minors.

Jean-Roland Racle denies the accusations and Michel Lotz has not commented.

Ms Abitbol and her skating partner, Stéphane Bernadis, are 10-time French national champions, and have won seven European medals.

At the 2000 World Championships, the two became the first French pair to win a world medal in nearly 70 years.

But in her book, Such a Long Silence, Ms Abitbol alleged that she was raped by Mr Beyer between 1990 and 1992. “He started to do horrible things leading to sexual abuse,” she told L’Obs magazine. “It was the first time a man touched me.8”

Rape and Murder of Elodie Kulik (December 2019)

9news, Australia

Willy Bardon, 45, a man who kidnapped and raped a woman before she was killed in northern France almost two decades ago and went on trial over the 2002 death of Elodie Kulik.

In December 2019, Willy was finally convicted of rape and murder of young French woman Elodie Kilik.

Elodie Kilik was kidnapped, raped, and strangled after her car was ambushed as she drove home from a restaurant.

The 24-year-old bank worker managed to call emergency Later her corpse was burned in 2002 in Tertry, France.

Services moments before she died, and the harrowing recording was a key piece of evidence in the trial as six witnesses said they recognized Bardon’s voice on the tape.

Police also used a new DNA searching technique in 2011 which led them to conclude Grégory Wiart, who died in a car accident in 2003, was one of the killers.

Roman Polanski Accused of Raping 18 Years old French Actress In 1975 (November 2019)

Source People.com

In November 2019, French woman in her early 60s has claimed she was violently raped at age 18 by Oscar-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski.

Monnier is the fourth woman to accuse Polanski of sexual assault since the initial statutory rape claim. In 2017, Polanski was accused of raping former German actress Renate Langer in Gstaad in 1972, when she was 15.

In a Friday story published in the French newspaper Le Parisien, the woman claimed that Polanski raped her in 1975 at his skiing chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland.

The paper said she had previously written letters to the Los Angeles police, French first lady Brigitte Macron, and others. One of several who responded was Marlène Schiappa, France’s junior minister for gender equality, who noted the case was too old for judicial action.

Monnier, now 62, told the newspaper that the alleged episode occurred when a friend invited her to go skiing and stay in Polanski’s chalet.

According to Monnier, after a night run down the slopes, she and Polanski returned to the chalet. She said that he called her up to his room after dinner, and that when she arrived, he was nude. She said he struck her, disrobed her, tried to make her swallow a pill and raped her.

Monnier said she feared for her life because “he can’t take the risk that this becomes known.” But he also apologized immediately afterwards and cried, Le Parisien quoted her as saying.

“Rape is a time bomb,” Monnier, an actress and former model, told Le Parisien. “The memory does not fade. It becomes a ghost and it follows you, and it changes you insidiously.”

French Police Officers First Jailed And Then Set Free After Raping Canadian Tourist (January 2019)

In January 2019, two police officers from one of France’s elite units have been sent to jail for seven years for the gang-rape of a Canadian tourist.

The officers took Emily Spanton back to their headquarters at 36 Quai des Orfèvres after an alcohol-fuelled evening at an Irish bar in April 2014.

Once in their fifth floor office, Spanton, 39, said their attitude completely changed. She said she was made to drink a glass of whisky before being forced to perform oral sex. She said she was raped several times afterwards.

Spanton, who said she was very drunk, left the building about 80 minutes later. She was in tears, had lost her tights and was carrying her shoes. She said she told an officer at the entrance to the police headquarters “they raped me” in French and in English.

The officers, Antoine Quirin, 40, and Nicolas Redouane, 49, both members of the prestigious anti-gang Brigade de Recherche et d’Intervention at the time, were not named during the three-week hearing under a French law protecting those working in sensitive police jobs.

The officers also alleged that Spanton, who is the daughter of a police officer, had initially said she was the victim of a “vol” (theft) not “viol” (rape).

Afterwards, Spanton’s lawyer Sophie Obadia said her client was relieved: “Women in France who have been raped don’t have to justify their private life. The court has found that Mme Spanton did not lie, she is not a liar. She was portrayed as a liar, she did not lie.[18]”

However, French appeals court in April 2022, overturned the convictions of these police officers who were accused of raping a Canadian woman at their Paris headquarters eight years ago.

French Gang Raped Aired on Social Media like Snapchat and X (Twitter) (September 2018)

BBC Blur said, “French police are investigating what they say is the gang rape of a 19-year-old woman broadcast on social media”.

In September 2018, a horrible incident happened in a nightclub in the southern city of Toulouse when the victim was attacked by four men.

Later the videos of the incident appeared on Snapchat and X(Twitter) and were blocked by police after social media users reported it.

French Prosecutors said there was no doubt that a crime was committed. They were not yet sure if the victim had decided to file a report, but insisted “the investigation would take place whether there is a case or not”.

However, French Police started to identify at least four perpetrators, aged between 25 and 30, seen in the parking lot of a nightclub in Balma, a suburb east of Toulouse.

According to media outlets that have watched the social media footage, the victim, who is visibly drunk, can be heard crying.

Other voices, believed to be those of the attackers, clearly suggest they are taking part in sexual assault.

Another clear voice warns the others: “Stop filming, it’s a rape… it’s a rape, it’s a rape.”

The young woman, who is partly naked, is pulled by the hair, including by a suspect who repeatedly urges her to perform oral sex[19].

Social media users were horrified by the images circulated online, and many reported them to the police’s cybercrime division.

French Mayor Sentenced To Five Years’ Jail for Staff Member Rape (February 2018)

Source: The Washington Post.

In February 2018, former French government minister and mayor Georges Tron has been sent to jail after an appeals court overturned a not-guilty verdict from 2018 and convicted him of raping and sexually assaulting an employee after forcing her to submit to “foot massages” in his office.

At that time, France’s #MeToo movement claimed a victory.

The Criminal Appeals Court sentenced Tron, to five years in prison, of which he will serve three behind bars.

Tron was found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of Virginie Ettel, an employee of Draveil town hall, the crimes having been committed between November 2009 and January 2010.

Tron, a cabinet minister under then Prime Minister Francois Fillon, was forced to resign in 2011 when he was accused of sexual assault by two women who worked for him at the Draveil town hall[20].

The women said that between 2007 and 2010, Tron, known for practising reflexology as a hobby, imposed foot massage sessions that would involve groping and digital penetration, at times turning into threesomes with his deputy Gruel.

The world was socked two months later, when convicted mayor was still in charge, governing the town of almost 30,000 people from his prison cell.

He relies on subordinates to execute the day-to-day business. The most recent town council meeting began with the reading of a letter from Tron, drafted in prison, with directives about the budget[21].

Frenchman Admitted Raping and Assaulting 40 Women (February 2018)

In February 2018, a French man was charged after confessing to raping and sexually assaulting “around forty, ‘40’,” women in a series of attacks since the 1990s.

The married 57-year-old father was arrested after police used his number plates to connect him with the rape of a woman last week across the border in Belgium. DNA evidence then matched him to that found on several rape victims.

The man, who is from the northern French town of Pont-sur-Sambre near the Belgian border, confessed under police questioning to attacks on women dating back decades.

“He estimates the number of victims at around forty,” Jean-Philippe Vicentini, prosecutor in nearby Valenciennes, told reporters.

The suspect was not officially named, but a resident in Pont-sur-Sambre who claimed to know him well identified him as Dino Scala, father of a son in his 20s and two older daughters.

Dino Scala who worked as a janitor was arrested in connection with an investigation opened in 1996 into attacks on 19 women and underage girls, the prosecutor said, adding that he always used the same method to prey on his victims. “The women were attacked from behind, very early in the morning,” he said.

“He wore gloves and masked his face, either completely or partially — with a hat, for example,” Vicentini said, adding that the suspect claimed he “acted on compulsions he was unable to control[22]“.

A police source added that one victim was just 13 years old, while others included several 17-year-olds. “Several investigations must still be done,” Vicentini said. ‘Completely shocked’ was the reaction of every person in town.

Police had code-named “The Rapist of The Sambre”, referring to a local river

In 2015, a 40-year-old man was charged with 33 counts of rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault from 1995 to 2000, most of them in the Senart Forest south of Paris.

Time to Wake-Up Repentant French Society

French society is going through an insatiable mental slope that can fragment society irreparable.

In France, Sexual violence is a significant issue within families and close social circles, affecting 5% of women who have been assaulted at least once since childhood and 1.6% who have been victims of rape or attempted rape.

The majority of these sexual assaults occur when the victims are young, with 82% experiencing rape or attempted rape within the family before their 15^th birthday. Additionally, nearly 90% of men who report being victims of rape or attempted rape experienced their first assault before turning 15.

Intimate partners or former partners, including boyfriends or girlfriends, are the second most common perpetrators of rape and attempted rape, with 10% of cases occurring before age 18. That’s a common experience for victims of sexual assault in France.

Outside of family and intimate partner relationships, sexual assault, other than rape or attempted rape, is most commonly reported in school, university, the workplace, and in relations between peers, colleagues, seniors, juniors, teachers, students, and customers.

Furthermore, in public spaces where people interact with friends, acquaintances, and strangers, instances of sexual assault are reported, with 8% of women experiencing it in their lifetime, including 1% who has experienced rape or attempted rape.

Across all these contexts, the perpetrators of sexual violence are predominantly men, ranging from 94% to 98%.

It has been seen that the proportion of women reporting experiences of sexual assault has significantly decreased in recent years, with one in 20 women under 35 reporting experiences of assault.

Police officers are also poorly trained to handle sexual assault complaints, and over 80% of cases and 91% of rape complaints are thrown out before coming to trial.

The limited number of French women reporting incidents of sexual violence raises a crucial question about the potential impact of such courageous acts on France.

Will these bold actions mark a significant shift in how rape and its victims are perceived in French society? Or will the specific details of these brave stories fail to leave a lasting impression?

The regretful state of French society serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for comprehensive public policies to address and prevent sexual violence.

A well-known saying for rape victims in France go, “When you’re a victim of sexual violence, you lose your power.”

In conclusion, I pose a question to the French Government, Judiciary, and Society: Will this narrow-minded thinking persist in the 21st century, and will French women continue to endure the reality portrayed by the character Alex (played by Monica Bellucci) in the movie Irréversible (directed by Gasper Noé, 2002)?

Finally, I pray to Lord to save French Women and French Society at large!!!

[1] FACT-CHECK: Are 86% of rapes in France committed by French nationals, as MEP Manon Aubry claims? (electifacts.eu)

[2] Rape victim goes public in French trial, challenges stereotypes – CSMonitor.com

[3] The France rape case exposes a disheartening truth about men’s lack of accountability (msnbc.com)

[4] ‘Not all men, but a lot of them’: will Gisèle Pelicot rape trial finally change France’s attitude to sexual abuse? | France | The Guardian

[5] Police investigate alleged gang rape of Australian woman in Paris – ABC News

[6] Argentina charges 2 visiting French rugby players in a harrowing case of alleged sexual assault | AP News

[7] French rugby players accused of rape in Argentina set off for Paris as closely watched case drags on | AP News

[8] Boys charged in alleged antisemitic gang rape of 12-year-old girl in France – CBS News

[9]Newly appointed French minister could face fresh rape investigation | CNN

[10] French court drops rape case against interior minister (lemonde.fr)

[11] Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan faces two new rape charges in France (france24.com)