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The nation's survivor of multiple assaults, the woman at the center of the case, is returning to court this week to come face-to-face with a perpetrator found guilty, the lone defendant who is challenging the judicial outcome from the previous year in which a collective of 51 defendants were sentenced for assaulting her as she lay, drugged, administered by her partner in their residence.

Back then, Madame Pelicot's outspoken position was regarded as a potentially catalytic moment in the fight against abuse. However across the nation, that hope looks to be diminishing.

"I will attack you if you don't leave now," threatened a man located by a historic church in the community, the charming locale where the couple had their home.

He caught my conversation inquiring with a senior resident about the impact of the Pelicot case on the nation and, while threatening to destroy our recording device too, was now stating that the community was fed up with being associated with one of the globally infamous sexual assault cases.

Earlier in the week, the town's leader had released a gentler version of the similar perspective, in a official announcement that described Gisèle Pelicot's extended trauma as "a private matter… that has no relevance to our town."

One may appreciate the leader's wish to defend the locality's standing and its tourism industry. However it is important to recognize that a previous period, he'd garnered attention across France after he'd stated to me on two occasions, in an interview, that he sought to "play down" the gravity of the individual's trauma because "there were no fatalities", and minors were not part of it.

It is also worth noting that almost all the female residents we were able to interview in Mazan last week did not share the leader's intention to view the legal matter as, mostly, something to "get past."

Smoking a cigarette in a shadowed entrance close to the church, a 33-year-old civil servant, who gave her name as the individual, spoke with open resentment.

"It is not a topic of conversation, within this community. It seems like it never occurred. I know someone going through family abuse at this moment. Yet ladies keep it secret. They're afraid of the men who engage in such behavior," she said, noting that she was "certain" that more of Gisèle Pelicot's rapists remained undetected, and unapprehended, in the community.

Strolling in the vicinity near a few sunbathing cats, another resident, in her late sixties, was equally keen to talk, but took a different view of the legal matter.

"The world is evolving. The country is advancing." Because of the individual's stance? "Certainly. It has provided encouragement, for women to express themselves openly," she informed me, emphatically.

Throughout the nation, there is no doubt that the coverage produced by Gisèle Pelicot's globally broadcast resolve that "the stigma ought to shift" - from the assaulted to the assailant – has supplemented the drive to a movement opposing assault earlier activated by the MeToo movement.

"I would say modifying actions is something that requires decades. [But] the Pelicot case ignited a huge, historic mobilisation… targeting abuse, and fighting exemption from punishment," stated Alyssa Ahrabare, who co-ordinates a coalition of 50 feminist organisations in the country. "We concentrate on instructing experts, supporting victims, on inquiries."

"Yes, France has changed. The reports of assaults has grown significantly, showing that victims – women and girls – they voice their experiences and they want justice," agreed a spokesperson, spokesperson for the group promoting gender equality.

However, the energy and optimism that surrounded the survivor last December, as she left the judicial building and into a scrum of supporters, have failed to result in many substantive changes to the way the authorities tackles the issue of abuse.

In fact, there is a near consensus among campaigners and experts that the situation is, in contrast, worsening.

"Unfortunately, the government does not react," stated the advocate, citing data indicating that conviction rates are not improving notwithstanding a significant increase in instances of abuse.

"The situation is dire. There is a backlash. Beliefs enabling abuse are resurfacing significantly. This is apparent through the men's rights activism gaining traction, notably within adolescent males," continued Alyssa Ahrabare,