Le Viol

Overview

21 August 1974. In Marseille, two Belgian tourists, Nicole and Malia, are savagely attacked and raped by three men. Their attackers claim that the women consented and are allowed to remain free. Though their friends and family advise them to forget the ordeal, Nicole and Malia instead decide to fight. Helped by their lawyer, Gisèle Halimi, they request that the attackers be judged at the assize court. On 8 May 1978, after a long battle, they finally obtain justice. A trial which made history as until then rape had been considered simply as a misdemeanor, whereas now it became a crime.