Rome, 18 December 2024 – La France awaits with bated breath the verdict of the trial of the century. Dominique Pelicot and the other 50 defendants risk from 4 to 20 years in prison, the maximum provided for by the French penal code in cases of rape, including aggravating circumstances.
For ten years Gisèle Pelicot, 71, was the victim of a system orchestrated by her husband: over 80 men contacted on the internet, of which only 50 were identified by justice, they sexually abused her, unconscious due to the sleeping pills administered by Dominique Pelicot. In their home in Mazan (Vaucluse), about thirty kilometers from Avignon, the police found footage of the documents kept by the husband. Videos of a sordid violence, shown in the courtroom in the presence of the accused, but fundamental in order to convict the alleged rapists.
Gisele Pelicot with one of her lawyers outside the Avignon court (Ansa)
“The role of these recordings is decisive – explains Charlotte Dubois, jurist and professor of criminal law at the Pantéon-Assas University of Paris – you see the defendants at the scene of the crime, you see the penetration. Their only possibility is to contest the element moral element of rape, since the material one is evident. The moral element of rape is the fact that the perpetrator was aware and intended to impose sexual intercourse on the victim”.
94% of rape cases closed
The Pelicot case has the merit of bringing to light the shortcomings of the French criminal code and denouncing the “rape culture” intrinsic to French society. In a country where, according to a study by the Institute of Public Policy relating to the period 2012-2021, 94% of rape complaints are dismissed, the urgency of an adaptation of jurisprudence is evident. “Often the preliminary investigation does not allow us to collect sufficient evidence, but the real obstacle is that the penal code is too restrictive. By law, a sexual assault occurs when there is violence, threat, coercion or surprise. If there is also penetration then it is rape. The problem is that if the public prosecutor is not able to prove one of these elements, then the fact does not exist,” says Emmanuelle Handschuh, member of #NousToutes, one of the main feminist collectives in the country. Legacy of that mentality called “rape culture”, which means “accepting and trivializing a set of expressions, images and stereotypes that portray women in situations of domination. It is the idea that the woman ‘asked for it’ and that ‘ it’s not the end of the world'”, explains the activist. According to Handschuh, not even the courtroom of the Avignon Palace of Justice is free from criticism: “when a magistrate asks a question about the victim’s sexuality, it is out of place. A sexual assault or rape has nothing to do with a form of free and consensual sexuality” The Avignon verdict, which sparked an unpredictable national and international media response, could be the turning point. “I believe there is a collective awareness taking place on the part of society and this is something new. This can be seen from the number of people who took to the streets to support Gisèle Pelicot and all the victims of sexual violence” says Emanual glove, before relativising: “The trial hasn’t taught us feminists much. It confirms and allows everyone to see what we have been saying for years: today it is the victim who feels ashamed, while it should be the aggressor who should be ashamed.”
Intentionality and sexual consent: a trailblazing process
In addition to fueling public and political debate, the trial is an opportunity to evolve the French penal code, which does not contain notion of consensus. “Even if it is not explicit, of course, the idea is present. Because if a person uses violence, threats or drugs to alter the victim, it clearly means that the victim was not consenting and that the act was forced”, specifies the jurist Charlotte Dubois. The European Union has adopted a draft directive to push member states to include the absence of consent in national legislation and some member states, including the Sweden, Belgium and Spain, they inserted the word consent into the law. Others, such as France and Germany, have not done so for procedural reasons: the criminal code falls under national competence and not of the European Union. The peculiarity of case of Mazan, in addition to the fact that it takes place open-door at the request of the victim Gisèle Pelicot, it is that the Departmental Criminal Court is dealing with it. Traditionally in France, the competent jurisdiction for this type of crime is the Court of Assizes. “This is a very recent jurisdiction, created on an experimental basis in 2019 and subsequently generalized and validated by the Constitutional Council. Unlike the Court of Assizes, there is no popular jury. The Court is made up exclusively of professional judges,” explains Charlotte Dubois. A way to guarantee the independence of judgment, in an unusual case, in which expectations, media and popular pressure have never been so high.
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