Gisele Pelicot has called the trial for the rape of her ex-husband and 50 other men over a decade a “trial of cowardice” and railed against France’s “macho-patriarchal society” where sexual violence is “trivialized”.
The 72-year-old, who has become a feminist hero after waiving her legal right to remain anonymous and demanding a public trial, faced her abuse as she gave evidence for the last time in a case that has horrified the country and the world.
Dominique Pelicot has admitted to crushing sleeping pills in her food and inviting numerous men into her bedroom in the charming village of Mazan in Provence to rape her while she was unconscious.
Staring down at dozens of men accused of abusing her — many of whom have tried to avoid guilt, claiming they didn’t realize they were raping her or being manipulated by her ex-husband — Pelicot asked them: “At what point, when you entered this room, did Madame Pelicot give you consent? At what point, when you saw the inert body, Did you not say to yourself that something abnormal was happening in this room?
– I heard that I was remote-controlled, I was on drugs, I was taking Zolpidem (a medicine used to treat insomnia).
“We ask ourselves, when did we realize what was going on? Why didn’t we condemn what happened?
‘To me this is a trial of cowardice. Gisèle Pelicot’s trial is a trial of cowardice.
He added: “They need to take responsibility for their actions. They raped. Rape is rape.
Mrs. Pelicot only found out about the abuse four years ago when the police came across videos and pictures that her husband had recorded of the abuse he organized.
Under French law, he could have requested a trial behind closed doors.
Instead, she asked that it be held in public, saying she hopes it will help other women speak up and show that victims have nothing to be ashamed of.
Mrs Pelicot said: “Since the beginning of this trial, I have heard a lot of whispers of unacceptable things, but that is how this trial had to go. I knew what I would be exposed to by refusing to go to the closed hearing.
“Obviously, I understand that I’m tired today. I have been omnipresent. I find it very difficult when people say that rape of Madame Pelicot is practically common.
He said: “Society needs to open its eyes to the fact that we live in a macho patriarchal society where rape is looked down upon.”
Mrs Pelicoti was supported in court by her youngest son Florian, 38, who told his father in court yesterday: “I am very grateful that our mother is alive, but I have a lot of understanding for what our father did.”
He added: You always said our mother was a saint. But you, you were the devil incarnate.
All three of the couple’s grown children have testified against Dominique Pelicot, who is in custody and appearing in court in a glass-fronted dock.
The retired electrician and real estate agent crushed sleeping pills into his wife’s food and drink and then invited strangers to rape her between 2011 and 2020.
He kept hundreds of rape videos on his computer in a file titled “Abuse” and has admitted the charges against him, telling the court: “I am a rapist.”
Some of her co-accused admit to the rape, while others did not know that Gisèle Pelicot was under the influence of drugs, even though the videos show her snoring loudly.
The trial continues and is scheduled to end on December 21.
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