Gisèle Pelicot, “a ray of light in the darkness”

The trial that captivated the world ended Thursday with a guilty verdict for Dominique Pelicot and 50 co-defendants. At the heart of this vile affair, a woman, Gisèle Pelicot, who by refusing to go behind closed doors opened such a debate that it could lead to a modernization of criminal law in France.

Louise Colcombet had been following the Pelicot affair for four years when she heard for the first time the voice of this woman whose husband had drugged her, raped her and delivered her, unconscious, to dozens of strangers recruited on the Internet who attacked them in turn. Until then, the great reporter and legal columnist of the Parisian had only heard of this woman as an object, almost a corpse.

Then Gisèle Pelicot spoke in court. I saw a woman standing with the desire to change society, who expressed herself clearly, without hatredtold Louise Colcombet to All one morningon ICI Première Thursday.

For me, she came back to life at that moment and she really brought a ray of light into the darkness of all these facts.

For Louise Colcombet, it was the most striking moment of this trial which ended Thursday with the full conviction of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other men.

An unprecedented trialsays the legal columnist, who followed it from start to finish. On Boulevard Limbert, in front of the Avignon Judicial Court, traffic had to be interrupted to contain the representatives of the 188 accredited media – including 80 from abroad – and the demonstrations in support of Ms. Pelicot organized by feminist collectives, but also by women who are not necessarily activists, and some men.

And what about inside the courthouse: a lot of people and tension, obviously, before the verdictrelates the reporter of Parisian.

Unprecedented and also out of the normthis trial, as written The Monde, by the seriality of the facts presented :

• nearly 200 aggravated rapes, which took place from 2011 to 2020;
• quantity of material evidence noted by investigators (some 20,000 photos and videos of Gisèle Pelicot archived by her husband);
• 51 accused, including the victim’s husband, Dominique Pelicot, tried for triple aggravated rape (by spouse, in a meeting and under chemical submission).

So that shame changes sides

If Gisèle Pelicot became a feminist heroine as said by New York Times and such a symbol of courage is because she made her voice heard, precisely, and confronted her attackers face to face.

By refusing from the first day of the trial the closed session (although requested by the prosecution and to which rape victims are entitled), this calm, sober and dignified septuagenarian ensured that shame changes sides.

By opening the doors to this trial on September 2, I wanted society to be able to understand the debates that took place there. I never regretted this decisionshe said Thursday.

Facing the chic type whom she believed she had married, and who explained that she wanted to satisfy his fantasy of subdue a rebellious womanGisèle Pelicot denounced a macho and patriarchal society, and called to change the way we look at rape.

To certain defense lawyers who argued that she was perhaps consenting in a supposed libertine scenario, Gisèle Pelicot replied: I find this insulting, and I understand why rape victims do not file complaints.

Present almost every day of the trial, Gisèle Pelicot observed these men try to make excuses and, in some cases, apologize to her — which she refused. She showed incredible couragesaid Umni Khan, associate professor at the Faculty of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, in an interview with CBC last October.

By testifying publicly and questioning the accused, Gisèle Pelicot asserted her power as a survivor, as a heroine, for all women in France and around the world.

The gender, sexuality and law researcher further says Pelicot has challenged myths surrounding sexual assault, including the belief that a person is safe at home, and the idea that rapists are strangers rather than neighbors and members of his community.

Awareness of #MeToo

It is thanks to the determination of this woman that the Mazan rape affair marks a turning point in France, in the opinion of Sophie Gagnon.

HAS All one morningon ICI Première on Thursday, the general director of Juripop explained that in France, the #MoiAussi movement had not until now had the same impact as here.

In Quebec, she said, it gave rise to the creation of the transpartisan Committee on Support for Victims of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, the creation of specialized courts and an investment in front-line resources.

Meanwhile, in France, #MoiAussi has polarized the debate, and even divided women. In particular, recalls M^e Gagnon during the publication of an open letter in which around a hundred women, including the actress Catherine Deneuve, defended a freedom to annoy, essential to sexual freedom.

With the Mazan rape affair and its judicialization, the French carried out an awarenessbelieves Sophie Gagnon.

Will the impact of this trial be lasting?

Already, a continuation is emerging from this sordid trial since several of the accused, including Dominique Pelicot, have not ruled out appealing their conviction.

Although the co-defendants admitted to having gone to Dominique Pelicot’s house and to having had sexual relations with his wife, they claimed not to have had l’intention to commit rape. They said they were unaware that Gisèle Pelicot was not able to give consent.

The majority of the co-defendants, i.e. 35 of them, contested the facts with which they were accused.

Some [des accusés] are even in denial: they do not consider themselves rapists. For them, it is an infamy.

On Thursday, Christophe Brushi, the lawyer for one of the co-defendants, sent his client’s message to women who were demonstrating outside the court all these hysterical and foul-mouthed people: “shit, but with a smile. Come on, knitters!”

So that such violence stops

In criminal law, punishment pursues different objectives, explains Sophie Gagnon of Juripop: to punish and put a person out of harm’s way, but also to rehabilitate and deter; factors inherent in determining a sentence.

Gisèle Pelicot has often repeated that she filed a complaint for her children, for her grandchildren because she wants such violence to be brought to light so that it stops.

Ms. Pelicot wishes that the women who succeed her will no longer have to experience such violence.

She also wanted explanations, which the trial didn’t really give her the opportunity to get.says Sophie Gagnon.

The concept of consent

Recalling that several differences oppose Canadian law to French law, the general director of Juripop explains that during the trial, some of the questions asked of Gisèle Pélicot would have been completely unacceptable in a Canadian courtroom.

She was asked why she didn’t cry more in court, why she wasn’t more angry with her husband; she was asked a lot of questions about her sexual past: was she an exhibitionist? A fan of swinging? She was asked if she was an alcoholic…

These questions are very clearly based on myths and stereotypes, explains Sophie Gagnon. However, in Canada, the Supreme Court declared in the 1990s that it was unacceptable in criminal law to ask such questions.

The indignation which rightly followed these questions will perhaps lead in France to a reform of French lawadvance M^e Gagnon.

We can think of the notion of consent which, remember, is not relevant in French criminal law.

In France, the definition of sexual assault does not mention the consent or otherwise of the alleged victim.

The burden of proof in sexual assault is higher in France than in Canadasays Sophie Gagnon: we are talking about penetration that is done with violence, threat, coercion or surprise. The prosecution (the Crown in Canada) must demonstrate one of these four elements. Following this shattering trial, Sophie Gagnon said to herself curious to see if the law in France will be modernized.

Rebuilding your life

From now on, Gisèle Pelicot lives under her maiden name in a corner of France that she has not revealed. She is trying to rebuild herself, after saying she was totally destroyed.

Her ex-husband received the maximum sentence. Sentences lower than those requested were handed down against his 50 co-defendants; a decision that Gisèle Pelicot affirmed respect.

In any case, on Thursday, it was not to these men that she sent her most important message, but to her children, to her grandchildren, to her daughters-in-law.

Finally, I think of the unrecognized victims whose stories often remain in the shadows. I want you to know that we share the same struggle.

And to all the people who supported her throughout this ordeal, she expressed her deepest gratitude. Your testimonies moved me, and I drew from them the strength to come back every day.

During the trial, the Women’s Hymn resonated a lot in the streets of Avignon, with anger, rage, but above all determination: stand up, stand up, stand up!

A woman who spoke was needed.

With information from Le Monde, Agence France-Presse, CBC, 7 sur 7 and Sud-Ouest