After 58 days in court, sitting through hundreds of hours of disturbing evidence in the trial against her ex-husband and the 50 other men accused of raping her, last week it was finally time for Gisèle Pelicot to give her testimony.
‘When you’re raped there is shame, and it’s not for us to have shame – it’s for them,’ she said about the decision to waive her right to anonymity. ‘I hear lots of women, and men, who say, “You’re very brave.” I say it’s not bravery, it’s will and determination to change society. This is not just my battle, but that of all rape victims.’
Dominique Pelicot, 71, has admitted to repeatedly sedating and raping his ex-wife, saying that for nine years he contacted men through an online chatroom called ‘without her knowledge’, where he would recruit strangers to come to his home and abuse his unconscious wife.
The accused men, who were identified by police from videos stored by Dominique, face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Most deny their charges, some claiming they thought it was a ‘game’, or that her husband’s consent was sufficient. Some have admitted rape and apologised to Gisèle, 72, in court. Aged between 26 and 74, the accused include a journalist, a prison officer, a local councillor and a soldier, as well as lorry drivers and farm workers.
Papered on walls around the village of Avignon, where the trial is taking place, are messages of support for Gisèle. ‘Gisèle, women thank you’ reads one. ‘Shame must change sides’ says a mural by graffiti artist Maca Dessine, fast becoming the mantra associated with Gisèle’s trial and chanted by protesters outside court. Statements from her testimony are being shared online: ‘I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can too.’
Gisèle insisted on lifting restrictions on the screening of video evidence in her trial, to show the ‘true horror of rape’, her lawyer Stephane Babonneau explained in court, and to demonstrate that anyone can be a perpetrator.
‘The profile of a rapist is not someone met in a car park late at night,’ Gisèle said. ‘A rapist can also be in the family, among our friends. When I saw one of the accused on the stand last week, who came into my bedroom and house without consent... This man, who came to rape an unconscious, 57-year- old woman – I am also a mother and grandmother. I could have been his grandmother.’
The trial will run until 20 December, but Gisèle’s testimony will echo long after that. One in two rapes are carried out by a partner or ex-partner, and six in seven are someone known to the victim. That’s for the few who report; research shows that five in six women don’t, citing embarrassment and hopeless- ness toward the justice system as reasons why. Could Gisèle’s bravery help to change that?
I look at what Gisèle is doing and, honestly, I do want to thank her.
‘All of my friends have experienced sexual abuse in some form, only one of them reported it,’ says Hannah*, 30, from London. ‘My rapist was well-educated and had this “nice guy” image I felt would go against me in court. I didn’t want to put myself through the trauma of court for nothing, but I’ve regretted it ever since. I look at what Gisèle is doing and, honestly, I do want to thank her. She has changed the way people think of who a rapist is and what any man is capable of. If I’d seen her case before, I might have reported myself.’
Lucy*, 36, from Surrey, agrees. ‘If it happened to me now, I’d report [rape]. One of the biggest misconceptions is that it’s always perpetrated by scary men in dark corners, but that’s not true at all. I was so embarrassed when my boyfriend at the time, raped me – this is a person that you love and trust and yet somehow does the worst possible thing to you. I think Gisèle is incredible.’
For Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Gisèle’s words ‘serve as a powerful reminder that we can challenge the narratives, attitudes and systems that harm survivors and excuse sexual violence... while it should never be up to survivors to take on this work, we are grateful to all who use their experiences to advocate for others and drive social change’.