Thousands protest against sexual violence in France | News of the European Union

Thousands of people have taken to the streets across France to protest against sexual violence.

Saturday's protests come two days before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

In the capital, Paris, large crowds of women and men marched waving purple placards that condemned gender-based violence and defended women's reproductive rights.

Protesters expressed concern about the rollback of women's rights in the United States when President-elect Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. Vice President-elect JD Vance said he would like to see a national abortion ban in a podcast interview by 2022, but has stressed that each state should decide their own policies.

French newspaper Monde reported that nearly 80,000 protesters took to the streets in Paris, with 400 different organizations taking part in the protests. It said thousands of people also took to the streets in small towns across the country, including 1,500 in Renne outside Lyon in southeastern France.

France enshrined abortion rights in the constitution in March – a move widely seen as a response to a US move to roll back protections for reproductive rights until 2022 when the Supreme Court struck down decades-old laws protecting national abortion rights. Although abortion has been legal since 1975 in France, a constitutional amendment clearly guaranteed access to abortion. France was the first country in the world to do so.

The protesters also expressed solidarity with Gisele Pelicot, her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot and 50 other co-defendants in court for allegedly drugging her and raping her while she was unconscious ten years ago. In September, Dominique pleaded guilty to the charges.

“Unfortunately, anyone can be the instigator of violence. It could be my brothers. It could be our fathers. It can be partners. It could be our bosses. I think that's a big shock for people,” said Maelle Noir, representative of the women's group Nous Toutes, which translates as All, told the Associated Press at the Paris protest.