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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 confront a perpetrator found guilty, the sole individual who is appealing against the judicial outcome from the previous year in which a total of 51 accused were convicted of raping her as she lay, drugged, by her husband in their family home.

During that period, Madame Pelicot's outspoken position was seen as a potential trigger in the fight against assault. However across the nation, that positive outlook looks to be diminishing.

"I am going to harm you should you remain here," growled a individual standing outside a medieval church in Mazan, the picturesque town where Gisele and Dominique Pelicot once lived.

He caught my conversation asking an elderly woman about the effect of the Pelicot case on the nation and, while threatening to destroy our camera too, was now explaining that the town 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 identical viewpoint, in a public statement that depicted Gisèle Pelicot's extended trauma as "a private matter… that has nothing to do with us."

It is easy to comprehend the official's desire to safeguard the community's image and its visitor sector. However it is important to recognize that a year earlier, he'd garnered attention throughout the country after he'd told me, twice, in an discussion, that he sought to "downplay" the gravity of the individual's trauma because "there were no fatalities", and no children were involved.

Furthermore it is important to observe that almost all the female residents we were able to interview in the town recently disagreed with the official's wish to view the legal matter as, primarily, something to "move beyond."

Having a smoke in a shaded doorway near the place of worship, a public employee in her thirties, who provided the name the individual, communicated with undisguised bitterness.

"People no longer discuss it, including in this town. It appears to be forgotten. I am aware of an individual suffering from abuse at home at this moment. Yet ladies keep it secret. They fear the individuals who do these things," she said, adding that she was "convinced" that further the assailants were still at large, and free, in the area.

Walking nearby by some cats enjoying the warmth, another resident, in her late sixties, was just as eager to converse, but had a contrasting opinion of the legal matter.

"Society is progressing. The country is advancing." With Madame Pelicot's help? "Absolutely. It has given impetus, for women to talk without fear," she informed me, assertively.

Throughout the nation, there is little question that the attention spawned by the survivor's internationally transmitted commitment that "shame should change sides" - from survivor to perpetrator – has supplemented the drive to a campaign against sexual violence previously invigorated by the activist campaign.

"From my perspective altering conduct is something that takes generations. [But] the proceedings ignited a massive, unprecedented movement… opposing assault, and against impunity," said a coordinator, who manages a coalition of 50 feminist organisations in the country. "We concentrate on instructing experts, assisting survivors, on inquiries."

"Yes, France has changed. The reports of assaults has grown significantly, indicating that those affected – ladies and young women – they come forward and they want justice," agreed an advocate, representative of the organization "Osez le féminisme".

However, the drive and positivity that engulfed Gisèle Pelicot last December, as she exited the courtroom and into a group of backers, have failed to result in many significant alterations to the manner the French state handles the issue of assault.

Actually, there is a near consensus among campaigners and experts that things are, instead, deteriorating.

"Sadly, officials take no action," stated the spokesperson, citing figures demonstrating that rates of successful prosecutions are not improving despite a notable surge in cases of assault.

"The outlook is grim. There is a backlash. Notions supporting assault are resurfacing significantly. We can see this with the men's rights activism rising in popularity, notably within adolescent males," added Alyssa Ahrabare,