Victims in French Le Scouarnec child abuse trial shocked at public indifference

Joel Le Scouarnec admitted in court to raping or sexually assaulting 299 people, almost all of them children.

The trial of France 's most prolific known paedophile, a retired surgeon, is coming to an end this Wednesday.

Some 50 other victims have formed their own campaign group to pressure the French authorities.

Le Scouarnec's trial, like the Pelicot case, has exposed deep institutional failings which enabled the surgeon to continue his rapes long after they could have been detected and stopped.

The reactions of victims have varied widely.

Some have simply chosen not to engage with the trial, or with a childhood experience of which they have no memory.

Others have found knowledge of their abuse has been revelatory, enabling them to make sense of things they had not previously understood about themselves or their lives.

Some activists remain hopeful that the case will prove to be a turning point in French society.

"We need to unite. We have to do this, otherwise nothing will happen," says Arnaud Gallais .

Lawyer: "There is a very important standoff between those who denounce child sexual violence and those who want to cover it up".