Trigger Warning: mentions of rape, sexual violence & domestic abuse – reader discretion is advised.
Note: This article was due to be published prior to the verdicts, but was delayed by a technical error.
In France, 51 men are on trial for raping Gisèle Pelicot. From 2011 to 2020, her now ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, drugged her and invited men to rape her while she was unconscious. He has now called himself a rapist, as have 14 other men on trial, while the rest deny guilt despite video evidence being presented during the trial. The men investigated represent all levels of society, being of different ages, classes, and races. The youngest man on trial even confessed to raping Gisèle the same day his daughter was born.
In 2020, Dominique was arrested for filming beneath a woman’s skirt, and police found his videos of the mass rapes of Gisèle. She had no memory of the incidents, having been drugged so severely, and told the court that “… [her] world is collapsing.” Naked images of their daughter Caroline were also found on his laptop, yet Dominique has said that he never touched her.
“The men investigated represent all levels of society, being of different ages, classes, and races.”
The fact that despite the video evidence, 35 men refuse to admit to rape, is exactly why Gisèle calls this “a trial of cowardice.” In September this year, she decided to publicise the trial in an attempt to set a precedent for survivors everywhere. She said that it is not for survivors to feel ashamed; it is for their rapists.
Through publicising her trial, she is showing sexual abusers that they cannot get away with it any longer. At great mental and emotional cost, she is revealing her severe traumas to the world, all for the sake of other women. Her mobilisation of her abuse is deeply moving for women everywhere, and is an admirable show of strength.
A culture of victim-blaming and a murky avoidance of defining “consent” has plagued French rape laws. There has been pushback against directly writing consent into rape legislation in France, while other European countries like Spain, Germany, and Sweden did so in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
The trial is also shedding light on the abuse that can occur within marriage and within families. Marital rape is legal in many countries across the world, and in others, there is enough grey area within rape legislation that men can get away with sexually abusing their wives. Considering the recent poll, there is hope that soon, married women will be protected from abuse at their husbands’ hands.
“[Gisèle Pelicot’s] mobilisation of her abuse is deeply moving for women everywhere, and is an admirable show of strength.”
Gisèle Pelicot now stands as an emblem of women’s justice. Her abusers, seemingly ordinary men, are capable of extreme sexual violence and are the most obvious proponents of violence against women. Yet, we still live in a culture that normalizes sexual assault and allows men to get away with it. It is dismissed with “boys will be boys” rhetoric or written off as a mistake.
Take the Amber Heard case against Johnny Depp, for example: in Heard’s 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post, she says that “[she] spoke up against sexual violence—and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” In the UK, Depp lost his libel case against The Sun for calling him a “wife beater.” The Judge ruled that out of 14 incidents of domestic violence, 12 had occurred, meaning that Depp abused Heard, but this ruling is swept under the rug by his claim of defamation. The Depp v. Heard defamation trial took place only two years ago and is one of the most damning examples of this culture.
Rape trials, no matter how much evidence exists against the rapist, are always stacked against the victim, especiallywhen abuse occurs within marriage.
That is exactly why Gisèle’s trial is so important. Unilaterally, these men must be tried and brought to justice. As she said, it is for them to feel the shame of their actions, not her. This is a landmark case in justice for survivors of rape and all women, to ensure that these men and those like them can no longer get away with their violence. Gisèle Pelicot is a hero to women everywhere, and I hope with all my heart she will get the justice that she deserves.
Gisèle Pelicot: A Survivor and Hero
Trigger Warning: mentions of rape, sexual violence & domestic abuse – reader discretion is advised.
Note: This article was due to be published prior to the verdicts, but was delayed by a technical error.
In France, 51 men are on trial for raping Gisèle Pelicot. From 2011 to 2020, her now ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, drugged her and invited men to rape her while she was unconscious. He has now called himself a rapist, as have 14 other men on trial, while the rest deny guilt despite video evidence being presented during the trial. The men investigated represent all levels of society, being of different ages, classes, and races. The youngest man on trial even confessed to raping Gisèle the same day his daughter was born.
In 2020, Dominique was arrested for filming beneath a woman’s skirt, and police found his videos of the mass rapes of Gisèle. She had no memory of the incidents, having been drugged so severely, and told the court that “… [her] world is collapsing.” Naked images of their daughter Caroline were also found on his laptop, yet Dominique has said that he never touched her.
The fact that despite the video evidence, 35 men refuse to admit to rape, is exactly why Gisèle calls this “a trial of cowardice.” In September this year, she decided to publicise the trial in an attempt to set a precedent for survivors everywhere. She said that it is not for survivors to feel ashamed; it is for their rapists.
Through publicising her trial, she is showing sexual abusers that they cannot get away with it any longer. At great mental and emotional cost, she is revealing her severe traumas to the world, all for the sake of other women. Her mobilisation of her abuse is deeply moving for women everywhere, and is an admirable show of strength.
A culture of victim-blaming and a murky avoidance of defining “consent” has plagued French rape laws. There has been pushback against directly writing consent into rape legislation in France, while other European countries like Spain, Germany, and Sweden did so in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
The trial is also shedding light on the abuse that can occur within marriage and within families. Marital rape is legal in many countries across the world, and in others, there is enough grey area within rape legislation that men can get away with sexually abusing their wives. Considering the recent poll, there is hope that soon, married women will be protected from abuse at their husbands’ hands.
Gisèle Pelicot now stands as an emblem of women’s justice. Her abusers, seemingly ordinary men, are capable of extreme sexual violence and are the most obvious proponents of violence against women. Yet, we still live in a culture that normalizes sexual assault and allows men to get away with it. It is dismissed with “boys will be boys” rhetoric or written off as a mistake.
Take the Amber Heard case against Johnny Depp, for example: in Heard’s 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post, she says that “[she] spoke up against sexual violence—and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” In the UK, Depp lost his libel case against The Sun for calling him a “wife beater.” The Judge ruled that out of 14 incidents of domestic violence, 12 had occurred, meaning that Depp abused Heard, but this ruling is swept under the rug by his claim of defamation. The Depp v. Heard defamation trial took place only two years ago and is one of the most damning examples of this culture.
Rape trials, no matter how much evidence exists against the rapist, are always stacked against the victim, especially when abuse occurs within marriage.
That is exactly why Gisèle’s trial is so important. Unilaterally, these men must be tried and brought to justice. As she said, it is for them to feel the shame of their actions, not her. This is a landmark case in justice for survivors of rape and all women, to ensure that these men and those like them can no longer get away with their violence. Gisèle Pelicot is a hero to women everywhere, and I hope with all my heart she will get the justice that she deserves.
Maya Dallal
University Challege defeat- Exeter 15th to leave the competition
The Rise of ‘Doom scrolling’: Time for another Digital Detox?
You may also like
Subscribe to our newsletter