Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence. After months of testimony, verdicts are expected as soon as this week in a rape trial that has both horrified and captivated the people of France. Catherine Porter, who has covered the trial, discusses the woman at the center of the case and how, with a single decision, she has turned the power dynamics of the #MeToo era on their head. Guest: Catherine Porter, an international correspondent for The New York Times based in Paris.
From. The New York Times, I'm Michael Bavaro.
This is the Daily
as soon as this week, after months of testimony, verdicts are expected in a rape trial that has both horrified and captivated the people of France.
Today.
My colleague, correspondent Catherine Porter on the woman at the center of that trial and how with a single decision, she has turned the power Dynamics of the MeToo era on their head.
It's Wednesday, December 18th.
Katherine, it has been a really long time and I am very glad to be speaking with you.
Me too.
It's nice to be back with you, Michael.
So we're going to be talking today about a case that when it first began to reverberate outside of France, where you are really shocked the world and then as even the most shocking things do, it kind of receded from our collective consciousness.
But not from yours.
No.
Oh, my God.
And I think it hasn't receded from the French consciousness either because once you put your mind to it and you lock your eyes on it, it's really hard to tear them away.
This is a story of a rape trial in which 51 men are on trial at the same time for raping or sexually assaulting the same woman.
I think that even if you just hear that much, it's so much to handle.
But there's all these other elements that have made this case impossible to look away from.
And the most important one is the woman at the center and the way she has conducted herself throughout this trial and her decision really to use her own private torment and hell as a force for greater good to change society.
Well, to understand how the woman at the center of this case does this remarkable thing, let's start at the beginning of this case.
Sure.