Alexandra Schwartzbrod’s editorial
Banality of evil, marital consent, medical negligence… Behind the terrifying story of Gisèle P., drugged for nine years by her husband then raped by men he recruited, philosophical, societal and medical questions arise.
The trial that opens this Monday, September 2 in Avignon raises an abyss of questions, each one more dizzying than the last: philosophical, societal and medical. A woman will be confronted with several dozen men – we did write several dozen – who, for nine years and at regular intervals, raped her at the invitation and under the gaze of her husband who had previously drugged her so that she would have no awareness or memory of what he was doing to her. “Ordinary” men in the sense that very few had been spotted by the justice system or by society, “good fathers” as they say, of all ages and from all social backgrounds, so it is impossible to determine a typical profile.
We immediately think of the banality of evil because many of these men, if we are to believe their testimonies, did not see where the problem was since the husband agreed. This highlights the terrible lack of thought surrounding the notion of marital rape that a large number of men still cannot understand. As if, from the moment she was married, a woman had to be at her husband’s sexual disposal. There is an enormous educational problem here that must be resolved at all costs.
Finally, it seems incomprehensible that the doctors who have continued, year after year, to receive this woman for gynecological, neurological or other consultations have not at any time detected the slightest anomaly. This time, it is a training problem that must be taken into account. Doctors are also there to identify psychological suffering and phenomena of control, and also to identify possible chemical submission. This has become a public health issue without caregivers being more aware of it. This trial is only just beginning, it will be unbearable for Gisèle P. who will discover the faces of all those who abused her. We must hope that this ordeal can at least allow it to be useful to other women.
