Trial in Avignon
“It’s not us who should be ashamed, it’s her”
In France, the trial surrounding rape victim Gisèle Pelicot is entering its final phase. "I want them to feel no more shame. It's not us who should be ashamed, it's them," said Pelicot, addressing abused women. She was raped around 200 times by more than 50 men, including her husband at the time.
The crimes have shaken France: Dominique Pelicot (72) is said to have drugged and abused his then wife for almost ten years. While she was unconscious, he also had Gisèle Pelicot raped by strangers he met via an online platform. Hundreds of photos and videos bear witness to the acts. The men were between 21 and 68 years old at the time of the crime. 50 of them were already on trial, but chief investigator Gwenola Journot assumes that there were ten to 20 other perpetrators who could not be identified.
Defendants feigned ignorance
There was a sense of shame among some of the defendants in court, but their statements seemed like excuses. One man, for example, stated that he had only pretended to penetrate his husband's unconscious wife for his own pleasure. Another said he was afraid of Pelicot, whom he didn't even know. One of them asked Gisèle Pelicot to apologize with his head down. "Too late, it's too late," she said and turned away.
Some claimed not to have understood that the woman was actually unconscious. They thought it was a game.
To encourage other abused women, Pelicot decided to have the trial in Avignon held in public (see video above). "It helps a lot that this is not taking place behind closed doors," confirmed a 36-year-old mother from the greater Paris area, who had traveled to the south especially to attend the trial. She has suffered sexual violence herself.
Gisèle Pelicot spoke of "barbarism" and "horror scenes" in court. The police officers who searched her husband's computer saved her life, she said. The pensioner was arrested in September 2020 for filming under the skirts of female supermarket customers. This brought to light years of serious abuse by his then wife.
She herself had not witnessed the acts due to the strong medication her husband was giving her. She had consulted several doctors for various complaints, but they found nothing wrong.
Will the law be tightened?
The case has reignited debates about the definition of sexual violence. Activists have long been calling for sexual acts to be explicitly consented to and for this to be included in criminal law. The French National Assembly is now considering a proposal to change the law. This would mean that alleged perpetrators would not be able to excuse themselves in court by claiming that they did not know about the lack of consent.
Around the court, people are calling for the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the accused.
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