Gisèle Pelicot faces one of her rapists in court again

Gisèle Pelicot's dominant stance was seen as a moment in France's MeToo movement but the enthusiasm appears to be wilting.

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At the time, Madame Pelicot's defiant public stance was seen as a potentially catalytic moment in the fight against sexual violence. But in France, that optimism appears to be wilting.

"I'll smash your head in if you don't leave now," snarled a man standing outside a medieval church in Mazan, the picturesque town where Gisele and Dominique Pelicot once lived.

He'd just overheard me asking an elderly woman about the impact of the Pelicot case on France and, while threatening to destroy our camera too, was now explaining that the town was tired of being linked to one of the world's most notorious rape trials.

A few days earlier, the mayor of Mazan had issued a gentler version of the same argument, in a public statement that described Gisèle Pelicot's years-long ordeal as "a private matter… that has nothing to do with us".