Five French judges will deliver their verdicts on Thursday in a mass rape case against 51 men that shocked the world and transformed the victim, Gisele Pelicot, into a stirring symbol of courage and resilience.
Pelicot’s ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, pleaded guilty to drugging her repeatedly for nearly a decade, raping her and offering her unconscious body for sex to dozens of strangers she met online, filming the ‘abuse.
Prosecutors sought a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for him, and terms of between 4 and 18 years for the other 50 defendants, nearly all accused of raping Pelicot as he lay comatose in his bed.
Pelicot, 72, waived her right to anonymity and asked for the trial to be held in public, with videos played in court, saying she hoped it would help other women speak out.
The trial has sparked protests across France in support of Pelicot and prompted soul-searching, including a debate over whether to update France’s rape law, which currently makes no mention of whether sex must be consensual.
Many of the accused men have denied the allegations, saying they think it was a consensual sex game orchestrated by the couple and arguing that it is not rape if the husband approves.
Dominique Pelicot denied deceiving the men, saying they knew exactly what they were doing. “I am a rapist like the others in this room,” he said during testimony, apologizing to his family and begging for forgiveness.
Gisele sat resolutely throughout the three-month trial, staring down her abusers with steely determination and rejecting any claims that she might have been a willing participant.
“I decided not to be ashamed, I didn’t do anything wrong,” he told a court in Avignon, southern France, in October. “They are the ones who should be ashamed,” he said.
TERRIFYING SECRETS
The defendants come from all walks of life: truck drivers, soldiers, firefighters, security guards, supermarket workers, journalists and the unemployed.
The youngest suspect was only 22 years old when he entered Pelicot’s bedroom, while the oldest was 70 years old. Many had children and were in relationships. Most lived within a 50 km (31 mile) radius of the picturesque Pelicot village of Mazan, nestled in the vineyards below Mont Ventoux.
The case only came to light in 2020, when Dominique was caught trying to photograph women up their skirts in a supermarket. Police later discovered more than 20,000 photos and videos on his computer drives, revealing the terrible secrets he had hidden from his now ex-wife for a decade.
Police believe 72 men went to the house to rape and abuse Gisele, but have not been able to identify them all.
Pelicot acknowledged putting powerful tranquilizers in his wife’s food and coffee, which put her to sleep for hours. Gisele said she feared she would develop Alzheimer’s or have a brain tumor because of the memory lapses.
She says she hopes the huge interest in her case will help other women who have suffered sexual abuse, and rejects praise for her courage in letting the world see her pain.
“It’s not courage. It’s determination to change things,” he told the court in October. “This is not just my fight, but that of all rape victims.”
