Gisèle Pelicot, the victim in a mass rape trial in France, told the court she “could have died” as she took the stand on Tuesday to deliver her final statement.
Her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, is accused of drugging and raping her, and inviting some 50 other men to do the same over a nine-year period.
Delivering her final statement before prosecutors and defence teams make their final arguments, she said it is “time we change the way we look at rape”.
“It’s time that the macho, patriarchal society that trivialises rape changes,” she said.
Gisèle Pelicot also spoke about the health implications of the drugging and rape. She told the court that: “I lost ten years of my life” to the medical consequences. “This scar will never heal”.
She adds that her health concerns felt “like a death sentence” and that in the depths of her medical issues she “thought [she’d] either die or end up in a mental hospital”.
Gisèle Pelicot went on to question why this happened. “As I didn’t want to go to a swingers’ club, he thought he’d found the solution by putting me to sleep,” she said.
In September, Dominique Pelicot admitted to the charges levelled against him and told the court in the southern city of Avignon, “I am a rapist, like the other men in this room”.
Many of the men on trial alongside him deny the charges and claim they were manipulated by Dominique or said they believed she consented. One of the accused is still at large.
Pelicot reportedly filmed many of the alleged crimes against his wife.
Video evidence of the alleged rapes was found after Dominique Pelicot was arrested in 2020 for filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket.
Images of the couple’s daughter Caroline partially naked were also found on Dominique’s laptop. Pelicot’s children left the room as Gisèle was asked about these.
Over the course of the trial, Gisèle Pelicot has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France, acknowledged for waiving her anonymity in the case.
She’s previously said she does not want to feel shame for the alleged crimes committed against her. She repeated this thought today when asked about continuing to use her alleged abuser’s and ex-husband’s surname. She spoke of her grandchildren: “They shouldn’t be ashamed of carrying that name”.
A total of 50 men were identified by police from films labelled and stored by Dominique Pelicot. The men on trial face up to 20 years in prison.
Aged between 26 and 74, the accused include farm workers, a journalist, a nurse, a prison officer, a local councillor, a soldier and lorry drivers.
A defence lawyer questioned whether Gisèle has more anger towards the defendants than her husband. Gisèle said she is a “positive” person and recognises her ex-husband’s “complicated” upbringing, but she doesn’t forgive him: “His actions were unforgivable”.
But Gisèle spoke of her “rage” towards the men her husband elicited to rape her: “Not for a second did they report things to the police. […] They could’ve all reported this. Not one did”.
“I don’t think I’ll ever feel at peace until the end of my life. I’ll learn to live with it. I’ll rebuild myself. But there’ll forever be 51 people who have defiled me. And I will have to live with this for the rest of my life”.
Dominique Pelicot will take the stand on Tuesday afternoon.
A verdict from a panel of five judges is it expected to be handed down on December 20.
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