Dominique Pelicot, Sean Combs, Mohamed al-Fayed… Is it the second wave of the #MeToo movement?

France’s historic mass rape trial has exposed the systemic abuse seemingly ordinary men commit against women. Dominique Pelicot drugged and raped his ex-wife, Gisèle Pelicot, for several years and even invited dozens of strangers to rape her while she was unconscious at their home in Mazan, a small town in southern France.

On Thursday (December 19), a court in France found Dominique and 50 other men, all between the ages of 26-74, guilty. While 47 men were convicted of rape, two were found guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault.

Dominique Pelicot, 72, has been sentenced to 20 years in jail. The other 50 men were handed sentences from three to 13 years.

It was Gisèle’s will to make the trial public that revealed the horrors men are capable of. Her desire to change society and help other victims of sexual abuse by waiving her right to anonymity turned her into a feminist icon.

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The mass rape trial has sparked a conversation on “rape culture” and “toxic masculinity” in France. In other parts of the world, several cases of sexual abuse by powerful men have come to light in recent months as more women come forward.

Is the world witnessing a second wave of the #MeToo movement?

Let’s take a look.

France stunned by Pelicot rape trial

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, was betrayed by the man she trusted the most. Her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, shattered that trust. Her case highlights how women are most at risk at home.

Men who raped Gisèle while she was unconscious had ordinary professions – a journalist, a DJ, lorry drivers and a nurse.

“It brings us back to the idea of who we are as a society, for normal men to commit acts that are totally transgressive and criminal,” feminist, lawyer and author Anne Bouillon told NBC News.

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Dominique Pelicot & 50 others: The men convicted in the Gisèle Pelicot mass rape trial in France

The mass rape trial has also shed light on France’s narrow definition of rape that excludes consent. Under French law, rape is defined as an “act of sexual penetration” committed “by violence, coercion, threat or surprise.”

About 500 activists have signed an open letter demanding a consent provision be included in the rape law.

There are also calls to overhaul France’s system that makes it difficult for survivors to report sexual violence.

Earlier this month, seen as France’s first major #MeToo case went on trial. Christophe Ruggia, a film director, has been charged with sexually assaulting rising star Adèle Haenel beginning when she was 12 and he was 36. A verdict is likely in February.

France is now feeling the “Gisèle effect”.

“It’s totally because of Gisèle that I have the strength to talk about it,” Latika, 33, who told NBC News that she was also drugged and raped by her violent husband said.

Gisèle has a message for other victims. “Finally, I think of the unrecognised victims whose stories often remain in the shadows. I want you to know that we share the same fight,” she said in her first statement outside court after the verdict.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

American music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been accused by hundreds of people, mostly women, of sexual assault.

Several women have levelled allegations of sexual assault dating back to 1991.

Combs has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution at the US District Court in New York.

Prosecutors allege Combs coerced women into participating in drug-fuelled orgies with male prostitutes, infamous as “freak offs”.

These orgies went on for several days and are believed to have begun in the early 1990s.
Combs has been accused of drugging and raping women and videotaping these “freak offs” to pressure his victims into silence.

The disgraced media mogul faces a sentence of 15 years up to life in prison if convicted.
America’s music industry has not yet had the same impact of the #MeToo movement that Hollywood witnessed with film producer Harvey Weinstein’s takedown in 2017.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a continuation of #MeToo,” Laura Palumbo, who has been a spokesperson for the US National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) for 15 years, told El País. “There is still a lot more to add to #MeToo, from many different contexts: in the music industry, in the military, and on college campuses,” she added.

According to Palumbo high-profile cases do have an impact. “When they get broad media coverage, they generate dialogue and conversation. It’s not just that they impact survivors, they also affect our conversation as a society: people believe, they support the victims. Among family, friends and neighbours, opportunities arise to increase awareness and impact,” she explained.

Mohamed al-Fayed

Former Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed may have raped and abused at least 111 women and girls over nearly four decades, police in the United Kingdom believe.

The late Egyptian billionaire, who moved to the UK, once owned the luxury department store Harrods in London.

After BBC aired a documentary on Fayed in September, as many as 150 women have spoken out about the harassment they were subjected to by the tycoon.

One woman, who was a teenager when she was allegedly assaulted, described Fayed as a “monster, a sexual predator with no moral compass whatsoever”, who saw staff at Harrods as his “playthings”.

The scale of these allegations against Fayed would make him one of Britain’s most notorious sex offenders.

He died last year at the age of 94.

With input from agencies