Georges Tron, politician The Republicans, is retried for charges of rape committed in assembly. His assistant appears for complicity. This case is a summary of the turning points in the fight against sexual violence.
The Georges Tron trial is being held for the third time from January 25, 2021 until February 12. Acquitted at the end of 2018, the former minister, mayor and departmental councilor is accused of rape and sexual assault in meetings. It is his former assistant Brigitte Gruel who appears alongside him.
What are they accused of? The two complainants, two former employees, describe foot reflexology sessions which allegedly ended sexually. Their defense evokes the subordination, and the ascendancy exercised by the mayor over these two women, who were coerced into having sex.
In November 2018, he was acquitted on the grounds of lack of evidence regarding the duress suffered by his collaborators. The verdict is strongly denounced by feminist activists, the Court having also recognized a hypersexualized work environment.
Why does this case mark a turning point?
The George Tron case erupted in May 2011, and prompted the ex-secretary of state for public service to step down. The scandal was made public at the same time as the Strauss Kahn case, at a time when women were struggling to speak out to denounce men in power. This is the second time under the Fifth Republic that a former member of the government has appeared before an Assize Court.
However, the man first benefited from a dismissal, to the amazement of the complainants.
The 2018 judgment comes in the midst of the Me Too surge, which brings to the attention of the general public the many mechanisms of coercion in the context of sexual violence. The defense of the accused was at the time provided by Éric Dupond-Moretti, who based his arguments on little phrases that came out when he was appointed Minister of Justice: "It's fine that the voice of women is free, but you are preparing a curious way of life for future generations." or "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, if your son touches a friend's knee in his car, is that a sexual assault?" and finally "a starlet for example who wants to succeed and says to herself: I'm going to sleep, 'it's sofa promotion" https://www.aufeminin.com/ ".
Hopefully the 2021 judgment will reflect the current understanding of the mechanisms of domination in consenting to sexual relations.