French women took to the streets of Paris to bring more attention to sexual abuse as a result of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, officials said.
Strauss-Kahn is the former head of the International Monetary Fund who was arrested last month after a chambermaid in a New York hotel alleged he forced her to perform oral sex on him.
Protesters in Paris Friday sought to focus attention on the incident as a way of preventing future abuse, The Guardian reported Saturday.
"I was raped by a powerful man. I went to the police, they said the pressure would fall on me and I risked being destroyed," said one protester. "I didn't take it any further. Victims feel they have almost no voice in France. We hope that might change now."
Strauss-Kahn denies the charges against him. He is under house arrest in New York while awaiting court appearances. Strauss-Kahn said the incident was voluntary and he didn't force the maid to do anything against her will.
Gisele Halimi, a well-known feminist lawyer, said if the Strauss-Khan incident had happened in France, it probably would never have reached court.
"Frankly some things we've heard we would have preferred not to," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy.