Summary
Gisèle Pelicot’s strength and resilience shine through her courageous decision to publicly share her ordeal in an open-court trial, a move that garnered widespread recognition and aimed to shift the burden of shame onto the perpetrators. Her story stands as a powerful reminder of the struggles many women endure, serving as a beacon of hope and inspiration for others.
In the annals of unsung heroes, some names stand out not for their fame but for their extraordinary courage, resilience, and selflessness. Gisèle Pelicot, though not widely known, is a remarkable figure of courage and resilience. Her story serves as a powerful reminder of the struggles many women face and continues to inspire others.
Gisèle Pelicot is a survivor of a brutal rape by her husband, Dominique Pelicot and 50 other male acquaintance.
The Unraveling of the Story
Gisèle and Dominique’s relationship began when they were 19, leading to marriage at 21. Gisèle Pelicot described Dominique as the love of her life despite their financial hardships and his infidelity.
“I thought we were a strong couple,” she told The Times. Together, they raised three children, had seven grandchildren, and regularly went on vacations, cherishing their family life.
In 2013, Gisèle’s health sharply declined, with rapid weight loss, hair loss, and severe memory loss, which she described as “total blackouts.” Dominique appeared to be the perfect, devoted husband on the surface. He took Gisèle to doctors, leading her to believe she had Alzheimer’s or a brain tumour. However, it was later revealed he had been secretly drugging her by slipping crushed sleeping pills into her food and drinks.
In 2020, Dominique Pelicot was arrested after a security guard at a grocery store caught him attempting to upskirt three female customers using his mobile phone at an E.Leclerc supermarket in Carpentras, Vaucluse. “Up-skirt” involves secretly taking unauthorised photos or videos under someone’s skirt or dress without their knowledge or consent. This invasive act is widely considered sexual harassment, voyeurism, and, in some cases, sexual assault. A camcorder, camera and condoms were found in his bag. During his interrogation at an Avignon police station, Dominique Pélicot claimed that his actions were driven by urges due to his wife’s absence for a month. He was released on bail while investigators examined his mobile phones, laptop, and other seized digital equipment.
The disturbing incident led to formal allegations and his subsequent arrest. The investigation took a shocking turn when authorities discovered 300 photographs and videos on Dominique Pelicot’s confiscated devices, revealing men sexually assaulting Gisèle. On November 2, 2020, Dominique and Gisèle Pélicot were called in for a police interview. When questioned about their sex life, Gisèle denied any involvement in wife-swapping or threesomes. Initially, she did not recognise herself in a photo shown by the police, but upon seeing a second image, she realised she had been raped around 200 times between 2011 and 2020.
More disturbing evidence of Dominique’s violence uncovered
More evidence exposed the extent of the abuse Dominique and friend Gisèle endured. The Times reported that the count of incriminating photos and videos rose to 20,000. Investigators also uncovered detailed records of the assaults, including messages where Dominique Pelicot boasted about drugging his wife and solicited strangers to participate in the abuse. Dominique had also organised his photos in a folder on his computer, labelled “abuse,” adding dates and file names to most of the footage, revealing the premeditated nature of his actions.
Police revealed that between 2011 and 2023, Dominique Pelicot regularly drugged his wife and invited strangers to assault her, often recording the horrific encounters. The investigation revealed that Dominique Pelicot used the illicit forum “Without Her Knowledge” on coco.gg to contact men for the assaults. The website, linked to over 10,000 police cases, was dismantled by French authorities in June. According to The Guardian, Dominique Pelicot is believed to have orchestrated over 200 rapes between 2011 and 2023, enlisting more than 90 men to participate in the assaults.
Dominique reportedly set rules for the men during their stays at the couple’s home. Dominique would drug his wife, Gisèle, while the men waited nearby. Once she was unconscious, they were instructed to remove their clothes in the kitchen, speak quietly, and avoid using perfume or tobacco to prevent suspicion. These men, aged 26 to 74, integrated seamlessly into society, holding various everyday jobs as journalists, plumbers, nurses, IT consultants, truck drivers and other everyday professions.
Other women were also featured in his accounts. It was reported that he kept a folder titled “Around my daughter, naked,” which contained disturbing collages of her similarly nude and incapacitated. Dominique secretly took photographs of his daughters-in-law without their consent or knowledge. His daughter wrote a memoir about her father’s crimes, Et j’ai cessé de t’appeler papa, in 2022, under the pen name Caroline Darian.
During the police inquiry, Gisèle initially described her husband as a “great guy.” However, when officers showed her his archives, she was devastated.
After leaving the police station, Gisèle packed her life into two suitcases and filed for divorce from her husband, later discovering she had contracted multiple sexually transmitted infections. She also changed her surname, though she continued to use Pelicot for the sake of prosecution.
Dominique Pelicot and other culprits go to Trial
Dominique Pelicot, husband of Gisèle Pelicot, stands trial alongside 50 other defendants in the southern French town of Avignon for drugging and raping Gisèle Pelicot. Dominique Pelicot, 71, a retired electrician, admitted to coordinating and organising multiple rapes of his wife, Gisèle, 72. He offered her to a continuous stream of men he met in an online chatroom and filmed the assaults until his arrest on unrelated charges in September 2020.
Dominique Pelicot’s testimony was originally set for the second week of the trial but was postponed to September 17 due to his health issues, including a kidney infection and other ailments. When called to testify, Dominique Pelicot reaffirmed his guilt and attributed his actions to his alleged addiction, expressing remorse for his behaviour.
He stated, “She didn’t deserve this,” referring to Gisèle, and asked for forgiveness, acknowledging that it may be unforgivable, according to the New York Times.
He also addressed accusations from his fellow defendants, with one lawyer claiming he had “totally duped, fooled, tricked, and trapped” some participants in the rapes. In his testimony, Dominique Pelicot acknowledged his guilt, stating, “Today I maintain that I am a rapist, like those in this room,” according to The Times. He asserted that the other defendants were aware of Gisèle’s condition before participating and claimed they could not deny it.
Dominique claimed that the men willingly approached him and followed his rules, which included bringing test results and condoms. However, he admitted to allowing the assaults to continue even when they ignored these requirements and made it clear that Gisèle’s incapacitated state was undeniable.
Dominique admitted that the footage he filmed of the rapes served both for “pleasure” and as “insurance.” He meticulously labelled the videos, explaining that it was both perversion and a way to remember the participants. He further claimed that due to the recordings, all those involved could be identified.
In response to Dominique’s testimony, Gisèle expressed her shock, saying she never imagined in 50 years that the man she fully trusted could commit such acts. “For me, everything collapses,” she told the court, calling the footage scenes of “barbarity and rape.”
Dominique’s abuse of those surrounding Gisèle
After Dominique’s testimony, the court called the men he enlisted to stand in small groups. The first to testify was Jean-Pierre Marechal, 63, who, while not accused of raping Gisèle, has been jailed for using Dominique’s abusive tactics on his own wife, Cilia. The 63-year-old testified that he met Dominique on coco.gg, where Dominique proposed raping his wife and eventually coaxed him into agreeing.
After Marechal, Several other defendants, namely Lionel R. (44, father of three), Ex-fireman Jacques C. (74), Mathieu D., Fabien S. (formerly unhoused alcoholic), Husamettin D. gave similar accounts admitting to raping Gisèle Pelicot. Some men testified that they were unaware Gisèle had been drugged and believed Dominique’s claim that she was merely pretending to be asleep for a threesome. While others claimed they thought she was a consenting participant.
However, Gisèle refuted these claims in court, stating that they knew exactly what they were doing and her condition. Gisèle recognised one of the men as an individual who had previously visited their home to discuss cycling with her husband. She recalled seeing him occasionally at the bakery and said, “I never thought he’d come and rape me.”
Dominique faces additional charges for reportedly violating the privacy of his daughter and daughters-in-law by taking unauthorised photos. In court, Caroline Darian recounted discovering disturbing images of herself taken by her father while she was asleep. Though Dominique has not been charged with drugging or abusing her, Caroline referred to him as “the greatest sexual predator of the last 20 years” and questioned what could be done to help her heal and live a normal life.
Céline Pelicot, a daughter-in-law, testified that anxiety over Dominique’s photos and behaviour regarding his grandchildren kept her awake, limiting her sleep to 2-3 hours per night. Another daughter-in-law, Aurore, now the ex-wife of Dominique’s other son, recalled overhearing him ask her child about not wanting to “play doctor,” which she dismissed at the time. In addition to the charges pertaining to his family members, Dominique is also under investigation for two sex crimes that occurred in the 1990s, which are the rape and murder of a 23-year-old in 1991, which he denies, and the attempted rape of a 19-year-old in 1999, to which he has admitted.
According to the AP, groups of defendants will continue to be tried together before a panel of judges. The trial started September 3 and will continue through December.
Although Gisèle Pelicot has the right, under French law, to keep the proceedings private, Gisèle opted to open the trial to the public so that “when other women, if they wake up with no memory, they might remember the testimony of Ms Pelicot,” she explained, adding, “No woman should suffer from being drugged and victimised.”
Public reaction to the case
Gisèle’s case has sparked widespread reaction, with many hailing her as a symbol of strength, courage and resilience. As the trial captivated the public’s attention, she has earned widespread admiration and unwavering support, describing her as “a feminist figure,” “a heroine” and “an icon. Her story has resonated with the public, inspiring women with her bravery. When Gisele Pelicot emerged from the courtroom, she was met with applause and flowers from supportive crowds. In Gentilly, a suburb of Paris, a mural has also been created to honour her as she stands at the centre of one of the country’s most significant rape trials.
Since the trial commenced in September, Gisèle Pelicot’s steadfast resolve has resonated profoundly across France, cementing her status as a powerful icon in the nation’s crusade against sexual violence and sparking a powerful movement to reform French law.
The incoming French justice minister, Didier Miguad, has said that he supported adding the notion of “consent” to the legal definition of rape in France. The current rape law in France explicitly mentions “violence, coercion, threat or surprise” but does not include consent.
Hundreds of people, mostly women, have gathered in cities across France to support Gisèle Pelicot. Feminist associations organised some 30 protests in cities from Marseille to Paris, where on the Place de la Republique the banners read “Support to Gisèle” and “Victims, we believe you.”
Her courageous decision to publicly share her ordeal in an open-court trial sparked widespread recognition, aiming to shift the burden of shame onto the perpetrators.
The trial has brought many reactions on social media.
“As a woman who waived her anonymity publicly after being raped, I know all too well the risk that Gisèle Pelicot has taken. Survivors face public scrutiny, online harassment, and risks to their safety. Yet speaking publicly is the only way to bust the stigma. She is a hero,” X user @ellieokwilson says.
Another X user commented, @peachannon “Gisèle. An immensely brave lady.”
Male violence against women: A constant horror
Male violence against women is a global issue, affecting millions annually. The World Health Organization (WHO) records that 1 in 3 women (around 736 million) experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, often by an intimate partner. The UN reports that 137 women are killed daily by a family member.
Despite efforts to combat this, male violence against women remains a critical challenge worldwide, partly due to living in a patriarchal world that enables this violence and fails to hold perpetrators accountable en-mass.
