While the survivor faces an individual rapists during legal proceedings, what transformations have occurred within the country?

France's survivor of multiple assaults, the woman at the center of the case, is returning to court on Monday to confront a perpetrator found guilty, the sole individual who is appealing against the judicial outcome from the previous year in which a collective of 51 defendants were sentenced for assaulting her as she was, under the influence, due to her spouse in their family home.

At the time, the survivor's defiant public stance was seen as a potential trigger in the battle against abuse. But in France, that hope looks to be diminishing.

"I am going to harm you unless you depart immediately," threatened a man located by a ancient place of worship in Mazan, the charming locale where the couple previously resided.

He happened to hear me asking an elderly woman about the influence of the court trial on the country and, while threatening to destroy our recording device too, was now clarifying that the town was fed up with being linked to one of the globally infamous rape trials.

Several days prior, the local official had released a softer interpretation of the same argument, in a public statement that portrayed Gisèle Pelicot's extended trauma as "an individual issue… that has nothing to do with us."

One may appreciate the official's intention to defend the locality's standing and its tourism industry. However it is important to recognize that a prior year, he'd garnered attention nationwide after he'd told me, twice, in an conversation, that he aimed to "play down" the seriousness of Gisèle Pelicot's ordeals because "no-one was killed", and youth were not affected.

It is also worth noting that almost all the women we managed to converse with in the town last week held a different view from the mayor's desire to regard the proceedings as, primarily, something to "move beyond."

Having a smoke in a shadowed entrance not far from the church, a government worker, who gave her name as the individual, spoke with open resentment.

"It is not a topic of conversation, including in this town. It's as if it never happened. I know someone experiencing abuse at home currently. But women hide it. They're afraid of the persons who commit these acts," she expressed, noting that she was "convinced" that additional the assailants were still at large, and unapprehended, in the neighbourhood.

Moving through the area past a couple of cats enjoying the warmth, a different individual, in her late sixties, was similarly willing to discuss, but held an opposing perspective of the legal matter.

"The world is evolving. The nation is developing." Because of the individual's stance? "Certainly. It has provided encouragement, for women to express themselves openly," she shared with me, with conviction.

Across France, there is certainty that the coverage spawned by Gisèle Pelicot's internationally transmitted commitment that "embarrassment must transfer" - from the assaulted to the assailant – has provided added momentum to a campaign against assault already energised by the social initiative.

"In my opinion altering conduct is something that takes generations. [But] the proceedings ignited a huge, historic mobilisation… against sexual violence, and combating lack of accountability," stated an activist, who manages a network of multiple women's groups in the nation. "Our attention is on instructing experts, supporting victims, on examinations."

"Yes, France has changed. The cases of abuse has tripled, demonstrating that victims – women and girls – they come forward and they want justice," affirmed a spokesperson, spokesperson for the group promoting gender equality.

And yet, the drive and positivity that surrounded Gisèle Pelicot the previous winter, as she emerged from the courtroom and into a crowd of advocates, have failed to result in many substantive changes to the way the French state tackles the issue of abuse.

Actually, there is a near consensus among activists and specialists that things are, instead, deteriorating.

"Regrettably, authorities are unresponsive," said the spokesperson, citing figures demonstrating that conviction rates are flat-lining notwithstanding a sharp rise in instances of abuse.

"The situation is dire. There is opposition. Rape culture ideas are coming back very strongly. We can see this with the male-centric groups rising in popularity, especially with adolescent males," added the activist,