In September thousands of women and feminists in more than 30 cities across France took to the streets. The marches against patriarchy and rape culture were filled with slogans shouted or written on placards that read “we are all Gisèle” and “shame must change sides.” The marches continued through September and October, the rage and disgust has compounded and swollen. Gisèle Pélicot, her life, and the accusations she has brought to trial, have been discussed in newspapers and magazines and on television channels not only in France, but the world wide.
Gisèle Pélicot ,a 72-year-old retiree from a village in southern France, has accused her then husband of 50 years of drugging and raping her.
This week Pélicot finally had the chance to have her word in the trial that has called for a reckoning.
Pélicot, a 72-year-old retiree from a village in southern France, has accused her then husband of 50 years of drugging and raping her and also recruiting strangers from online to rape her while she was unconscious in their home over a period of 10 years.
The horror came to light when her husband Dominique Pélicot was arrested filming up women’s skirts in the supermarket. Upon his arrest French police then found a massive archive in his computer. In a folder labelled “Abuse,” he had filed around 20,000 photos and videos of men raping his wife while she was drugged and unconscious. Police identified over 80 different suspects from this video and have located and charged 50 of them.
Usually in France rape cases are usually tried under a protective privacy. Pelicot has waived that right, deciding for her trial to be conducted publicly, in front of all of France and the world, stating “It’s not for us to have shame, it’s for them.” Pelicot has pushed for the veil of secrecy to be fully ripped off, even requesting the photos and video of her abuses be played in the trial.
“I’ve been old that I’m brave. But it’s not bravery,” she said on stand. “It’s having the will and determination to change society.”
The men accused in her trial, including her husband, are all fairly regular men according to French society. Many work and have children. This is precisely the point protestors and Pelicot herself would like to underline: “A rapist is not just someone you meet in a dark parking lot late at night,” said Pélicot, “ He can also be found in the family, among friends.”
Of her decision to go public Pélicot said: “I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can too. I don’t want them to be ashamed any longer.”
The slogan which reads “Gisele, Women thank you” is seen on a city wall during the trial of Dominique Pelicot, a 71-year-old Frenchman accused of drugging his wife Gisele Pelicot and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her at their home in the southern French town of Mazan, with 50 co-accused, in Avignon, France, October 23, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz
The trial will continue as many of the defendants have yet to testify. A verdict is expected in early September.
Women lay flowers in a tribute during a silent march to support Gisele Pelicot, who has allegedly been drugged and raped by men solicited by her husband Dominique Pelicot at their home, and other female victims of violence, as the trial of Frenchman Pelicot and 50 co-accused continues, in Mazan, France, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz.
