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    • The rape trial that captured worldwide attention and made Gisèle Pelicot a feminist heroine
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    The rape trial that captured worldwide attention and made Gisèle Pelicot a feminist heroine

    Umito Posted on

    Content warning: This article contains references to rape and sexual violence.
    It’s a story that captured worldwide attention and made Frenchwoman Gisèle Pelicot a household name.
    This week, the 72-year-old mass rape survivor made her final statements at her trial, calling for change in France’s “macho” society.
    Her ex-husband admitted to inviting dozens of strangers into their home to rape Pelicot after drugging her, which happened repeatedly over the course of a decade.

    Most of the other 50 men on trial have denied the rape charges against them.

    Pelicot waived her right to anonymity during the trial, saying she wanted to help other victims of sexual violence.
    In doing so, she was hailed as a feminist hero and sparked an outpouring of support across the world.

    His case could even lead to legislative change in France.

    Closing statements from Pelicot’s trial

    Pelicot took the stand Tuesday for closing statements in the trial. This is the third time she has addressed the court, with verdicts and sentences due at the end of December.
    “For me it is the trial of cowardice, there is no other way to describe it,” she said.
    “When you walk into a room and see a still body, at what point (do you decide) not to react,” she said in a speech to the defendants, many of whom were present in the courtroom .

    “Why didn’t you leave immediately and report it to the police?”

    A crowd of protesters stands on a sunny boulevard in front of old buildings.

    A demonstration in support of Gisèle Pelicot and all rape victims took place in Bordeaux, France, on September 14, 2024. Source: PAA / Pierrot Patrice / ABACA / PA

    Pelicot only learned about the abuse four years ago – after police found videos and photos recorded by her husband of the abuse he had orchestrated and committed.

    These videos, some of which were played in court, show Pélicot motionless, sometimes snoring, while some of the accused mistreated her.
    Many defendants told the court they did not realize they were raping her, did not intend to rape her and did not intend to place all the blame on her husband, who they claimed had manipulated them.
    None of the accused ever alerted the police and only 14 admitted to being charged with aggravated rape, for which most of them face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

    The other 35 deny having raped Pélicot and maintain that they thought they were participating in sexual games.

    Change the conversation

    In France, rape victim-survivors have the right to anonymity in court, but Pelicot waived this right and requested a public trial.
    To explain her decision, she said she hoped that “all women victims of rape will be able to say to themselves: ‘Madame Pélicot did it, so we can do it'”.
    “I don’t want them to be ashamed anymore. It’s not up to us to be ashamed, it’s up to them (the aggressors),” she said.

    “Above all, I express my will and my determination to change this society.”

    “It’s time for society to look at this macho and patriarchal society and change the way it views rape.”
    In France, many people demonstrated in support of her and gathered in front of dozens of courts to denounce a culture they say is permissive of rape.
    Murals of his face, adorned with messages of solidarity, have been painted across France.

    Other murals were painted on the walls near the Abignon courthouse where the trial is taking place. We read: “Gisèle, thank you women.”

    A colorful fresco depicts the face of Gisèle Pélicot and a sentence reading "So that shame changes sides" in French.

    A Gisèle Pelicot mural created by Maca_dessine in Gentilly, south of Paris. The sentence says: “So that shame changes sides”. Source: PAA / Geoffrey Van Der Hasselt / AFP

    Other local women gathered outside the courthouse to applaud Pelicot as she entered and left the courtroom.

    Hundreds of other women protested in her hometown of Mazan, where she suffered abuse.
    Marches also took place outside France and Pelicot’s comments were shared on social networks.
    She also made a personal connection with Australians.
    This month, Pelicot attended a hearing . Her lawyer said she was “very touched to receive the headscarf and to see that on the issue of violence against women, even in Australia on the other side of the world, women feel the same way.”
    Some people hope that the Pelicot case will lead to changes in France’s controversial sexual consent laws, which currently do not include consent in rape laws.
    “I think it is incomprehensible that our fellow citizens refuse to include consent in the definition of rape,” French Justice Minister Didier Migaud told politicians in October.
    French criminal law defines rape as an act of penetration or an oral sexual act committed on another using “violence, coercion, threat or surprise”.
    It does not clearly mention the need for partner consent.

    With additional reporting from Australian Associated Press and Agence France-Presse

    Umito
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