A British journalist calls, via a petition, for the Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded to Gisèle Pelicot.
“Sexual violence” is “deployed as a weapon of war”, notes the author.
Nominations close on January 31.
Follow the full coverage
The extraordinary trial of the Mazan rapes
Gisele Pelicot (new window) will it succeed in 2025 the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, which fights against nuclear weapons and received the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize? This is what a petition asks for (new window) launched Wednesday January 8 by British journalist Catherine Mayer. In 24 hours, it has already collected more than 22,000 signatures.
“The exceptional courage” of Gisèle Pelicot
“Gisèle Pelicot managed to break through the fog of disinformation by renouncing anonymity to attend the trial of her attackers and testify”underlines the petition which calls for highlighting the scourge of sexual violence throughout the world. “It is difficult to imagine a form of violence that poses a greater challenge to peace than sexual violence. It is gender-based and endemic. Deployed as a weapon of war, it damages what resembles peace, every minute of every day, and in all regions of the world.”
The Mazan rape trial, which ended on December 19 before the Vaucluse criminal court, had “an international resonance, causing shock and anger in the four corners of the planet”insists a press release from the Change.org platform which hosts the petition. Drugged and raped by her husband and dozens of men for a decade, Gisèle Pelicot nevertheless demonstrated, during the trial of 51 of her attackers, a “exceptional courage” to try to “moving the lines” and give “hope for change”.
-However, Catherine Mayer, who is also the founder of the UK Women’s Equality Party, “is outraged that, nowhere, do politicians consider sexual violence as an absolute priority, even if some pay lip service to it. She finally asks them to act, starting by recognizing the importance of this fight”.
-
Read also
“The face of courage”: Gisèle Pelicot on the front page of the international press the day after a historic verdict
Nominations for this Nobel Prize are open until January 31. By this date, authorized persons, including Scandinavian researchers, previous winners and heads of state, will have to send a list of applications to the Norwegian committee. The latter then chooses the winner and announces it each year in the fall.
Related News :