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France's survivor of multiple assaults, Gisèle Pelicot, is heading back to the courtroom at the start of the week to come face-to-face with one of her attackers, the lone defendant who is contesting last year's trial verdict in which a collective of 51 defendants were found guilty of raping her as she rested, sedated, by her husband in their domicile.

Back then, Madame Pelicot's public resistance was regarded as a possible turning point in the fight against abuse. But in France, that optimism looks to be diminishing.

"I'll smash your head in should you remain here," snarled a individual standing outside a ancient place of worship in the community, the charming locale where the couple previously resided.

He caught my conversation inquiring with a senior resident about the effect of the court trial on France and, while promising to break our camera too, was now explaining that the town was tired of being linked to one of the world's most notorious sexual assault cases.

Several days prior, the town's leader had released a softer interpretation of the identical viewpoint, in a communique that portrayed Gisèle Pelicot's extended trauma as "an individual issue… that has nothing to do with us."

One can well understand the official's intention to protect his town's reputation and its travel business. But it seems worth noting that a prior year, he'd made headlines throughout the country after he'd told me, twice, in an conversation, that he sought to "play down" the severity of Gisèle Pelicot's ordeals because "no lives were lost", and youth were not affected.

It is also worth noting that nearly every one of the female residents we did speak to in the community recently did not share the mayor's desire to see the Pelicot case as, mainly, something to "get past."

Smoking a cigarette in a shadowed entrance not far from the religious building, a 33-year-old civil servant, who gave her name as Aurélie, spoke with clear frustration.

"People no longer discuss it, even here in Mazan. It appears to be forgotten. I know someone going through abuse at home currently. However females conceal it. They're afraid of the individuals who commit these acts," she stated, noting that she was "convinced" that further the assailants remained undetected, and unapprehended, in the area.

Strolling in the vicinity near a few cats enjoying the warmth, another resident, in her late sixties, was just as eager to converse, but held an opposing perspective of the Pelicot case.

"Society is progressing. The nation is developing." Because of the individual's stance? "Absolutely. It has given impetus, for women to talk without fear," she informed me, assertively.

Nationwide, there is certainty that the attention produced by Gisèle Pelicot's globally broadcast determination that "the stigma ought to shift" - from survivor to perpetrator – has provided added momentum to a effort targeting sexual violence earlier activated by the activist campaign.

"I would say altering conduct is something that requires decades. [But] the proceedings ignited a huge, historic mobilisation… opposing assault, and combating lack of accountability," said an activist, who oversees a alliance of multiple women's groups in the country. "We concentrate on educating specialists, supporting victims, on examinations."

"Absolutely, the country has evolved. The reports of assaults has tripled, demonstrating that victims – women and girls – they speak up and they want justice," affirmed an advocate, voice of the organization "Osez le féminisme".

And yet, the energy and optimism that overwhelmed the survivor at the end of the year, as she emerged from the judicial building and into a scrum of supporters, have failed to result in many significant alterations to the way the French state tackles the challenge of sexual violence.

Indeed, there is a near consensus among activists and specialists that conditions are, rather, declining.

"Unfortunately, the government does not react," stated the spokesperson, highlighting statistics showing that numbers of guilty verdicts are not improving despite a significant increase in reported rape cases.

"The situation is dire. There is a backlash. Notions supporting assault are coming back very strongly. This is apparent through the male-centric groups rising in popularity, notably within young boys and teenagers," noted the coordinator,