Trial of dozens of men accused of raping an unconscious woman, Dominique Pelicot, whose husband repeatedly drugged her has highlighted the difficulties that sexual violence victims can face in France.

The mayor of the French town where a man for over a decade brought strangers to rape his wife apologised on Friday for remarks that were criticised for playing down the ordeal of the victim.

PARIS (Reuters) -Hundreds of people, mostly women, gathered in cities across France on Saturday in support of Gisele Pelicot whose husband is on trial, accused of drugging her and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her in a case that has shocked the nation.

The mayor of a French town making headlines for the trial of dozens of men accused of rapes that occurred there for almost a decade has apologized for comments that appeared to downplay the case.

One of more than 50 men accused of raping Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot in a mass rape case that has shocked the world told her in court on Thursday that he was sorry for what he did. Lionel Rodriguez is among a small number of those accused who have admitted to raping Pelicot,

CNN’s Saskya Vandoorne reports on the trial underway in France where more than 50 men are accused of raping Gisele Pelicot. Pelicot’s case has sparked outrage in France after her husband of 50 years admitted to drugging her and inviting dozens of men online to rape her.

One of dozens of men accused of raping a Frenchwoman drugged unconscious by her husband told a court Thursday he realised something was wrong during their encounter that he now

Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by dozens of men recruited by her husband, on Wednesday called the men standing trial “degenerates” while attempts from some defence lawyers to question her credibility caused outrage in the courtroom.