A number of men were found guilty of raping many people in Gisèle Pelicot, which shocked France

A number of men, including Gisèle Pelicot's ex-husband, were found guilty of rape and sexual assault in a historic case that shocked France.

Speaking to a cheering crowd in the southern city of Avignon after the verdict was read, Pelicot, 72, said the outcome of his case gives him faith in a future where “everyone, women, men can live together in harmony, with respect and harmony.” understanding.”

Pelicot, who has become a hero to many in France for choosing to waive her right to remain anonymous and highlight the crimes her husband orchestrated, added that she fought the case with her children and grandchildren in mind “because they are the future,” according to a live translation by NBC News' British broadcast partner Sky News.

Earlier in court, she watched as Roger Arata, the presiding judge, sentenced her husband Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison. He had previously admitted that he drugged her until she passed out and invited a number of men to rape her over the course of ten years.

Another 46 men were found guilty of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault in this high-profile case, according to Sky News. They ranged in age from 26 to 74 years old and were sentenced to three to 13 years. Together they will work for more than 400 years.

Arod 15 admitted the facts, although a number of male suspects expressed regret when the verdicts were issued.

Pelicot said he respects the court and its decisions.

In a side room, family members of the defendants watched the trial on television, some sobbing and gasping as the sentences were announced, the Associated Press reported.

As emotions ran high, about 200 police officers are expected to be deployed in and around the court, filled with family members of the accused, spectators and journalists from around the world. More than 150 journalists were authorized to cover the story, which many activists see as a moment for women's rights in France.

In a previous case, it was revealed that Pelicot only learned of the horrors she endured when police began investigating her husband after a security guard caught him taking pictures up women's skirts with his smartphone.

Investigators said they found videos on her husband's devices that suggest he was also a victim of a serious crime.

Although his name will not be revealed, he requested that the case be heard in public and instructed his lawyers to fight for the gruesome video and other evidence to be played in open court.

He said he was doing this with the aim of ending “the macho, patriarchal society that despises rape.”

Campaigners against sexual violence hoped that Pelicot's case would represent a change in the fight against the culture of rape and the difficulties that those who have been sexually abused usually face in order to get justice.

And in France, some of them told NBC News earlier this week, that they hope to change a society where 75% of women say they believe they are not treated equally in a 2024 government survey and where last year, 230,000 women reported being treated the same way. you have been a victim of sexual violence.

“We have a real problem with French law,” said Magali Lafourcade, secretary general of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights. “There are a number of situations that do not constitute rape under French law [but] which are the objects of rape in the eyes of the oppressor.”

This story appeared first NBCNews.com.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com