AVIGNON, France – Gisèle Pelicot spoke of her “extreme hardship” after 51 men were found guilty Thursday in a drunkenness and rape case that made her a feminist hero, voicing support for other victims of their violence. receive such attention and “whose stories remain untold.”
“I want you to know that we are fighting the same war,” he said in his first words after a court in the southern French city of Avignon handed down prison sentences ranging from three to 20 years in a shocking case that stunned France and prompted the court to hand down prison sentences. a national account of the evils of rape culture.
Read more: The Horror of the Pelicot Case Goes Beyond This Case
As anti-sexual violence campaigners protested outside the court, the 72-year-old expressed “my deepest gratitude to the people who supported me.”
“Your messages touched me deeply, and gave me the strength to come back, every day, to survive these long daily trials,” she said. “This case was a very difficult test.”
Pelicot—now a figurehead for many women in France and beyond after she bravely demanded that all evidence be heard in open court—also said she was thinking of her grandchildren after enduring more than three months of trial alleging rape and other abuse. she was humiliated by her now ex-husband and more than a dozen of his friends over a period of almost ten years.
“They are also the ones who led this war,” he said of his grandchildren. “I wanted the whole community to be a witness to the discussions that took place here. I have never regretted making this decision. I believe in our ability to show ourselves together in a future where all, women and men, can live in harmony, with respect and understanding. Thank you.”
The court sentenced her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious, taken out of the tranquilizers he hid in her food and drinks.
This sentence was the maximum amount under French law. He was found guilty on all charges. At the age of 72, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. He will not be eligible to apply for early release until at least two of the three sentences have been served.
Dominique Pelicot and 50 other defendants rose one by one, one after the other, as presiding judge Roger Arata first read the verdicts and sentences—a process that lasted an hour.
“Therefore, he is found guilty of aggravated rape against the person of Mme. Gisèle Pelicot,” said the judge while considering a long list of names.
Gisèle Pelicot faced the defendants in court, sometimes nodding as the verdicts were announced.
Dominique Pelicot's lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, said that she will consider the appeal, but she also expressed that she hopes that Gisèle Pelicot will find comfort in the decision.
“I wanted Mrs. Pelicot to be able to come out of these scenes in peace, and I think the decisions will contribute to this release for Mrs. Pelicot,” he said.
Of the 50 accused of rape, one was released but found guilty of sexual abuse. Another man was also found guilty of a sexual assault charge that went to trial—meaning all 51 defendants were found guilty in one way or another.
In a side room where family members of the defendants were watching what happened on television, some broke down in tears and gasped when the sentences were handed down.
Demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse following the incident on their phones. Others read the decisions and applauded when they were announced inside. Others carried oranges as symbolic gifts for defendants going to prison.
Prosecutors had asked for a maximum sentence of 20 years for Dominique Pelicot and 10 to 18 years for the other attempted rapes.
But the court was more lenient than the prosecutors expected, many were sentenced to less than ten years in prison.
For the defendants other than Dominique Pelicot, the sentences ranged from three to 15 years in prison, sometimes suspended for some of them. Arata told the six defendants that they are now free, including the time they spent in prison while awaiting trial.
Dominique Pelicot has admitted that his wife of 50 years was drugged for years so that he and strangers he hired on the internet harassed her while filming these incidents.
The horrific ordeal she faced in what she thought was a loving marriage and her bravery during the harrowing trial have inspired anti-sexual violence campaigners and called for tougher measures to end the culture of rape.
The defendants are all accused of taking part in Dominique Pelicot's nightmares of rape and torture which were carried out at the couple's retirement home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere.
One of these men was sentenced to 12 years in prison not for beating Gisèle Pelicot but for getting his wife drunk—with help and drugs from Dominique Pelicot, who was also found guilty of raping his wife.
Five jurors voted by secret ballot in their verdicts, with the majority voting for convictions and sentences.
Anti-sexual violence campaigners hoped to find model prisoners and saw the trial as a game-changer in the fight against sexual violence and drug use to reduce victims.
Gisèle Pelicot's courage to give up her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse and successfully pushed for the trial and the shocking evidence—including videos—to be heard in open court has fueled discussions nationally in France and among families, couples and families. friend groups on how to better protect women and the role men can play in achieving that goal.
“Men are starting to talk to women – their girlfriends, mothers and friends – in ways they never talked to before,” said Fanny Foures, 48, who joined other women from the feminist group Les Amazones in pasting messages in support of Gisèle Pelicot on the walls around Avignon before the verdict.
“It was not easy at first, but now real discussions are happening,” he said.
“Some women realize, perhaps for the first time, that their ex-husbands abused them, or that someone close to them abused them,” added Foures. “And people are starting to think about their own behavior or compatibility—things they've neglected or failed to take into account. It's difficult but it creates change.”
A large banner hung by campaigners on the city wall opposite the court read, “MERCI GISELE”—thank you Gisèle.
Dominique Pelicot first came to the attention of the police in September 2020, when a supermarket security guard caught him secretly photographing women's skirts.
Then the police found his library of self-made photos of his wife's years of abuse—more than 20,000 photos and videos in total, stored on computers and listed in folders labeled “abuse,” “her rapists,” “one night” and others. articles.
A lot of evidence led police to other suspects. In the videos, investigators counted 72 different abusers, but could not identify them all.
Although some of the defendants—including Dominique Pelicot—pleaded guilty to rape, many did not, even when video evidence was shown. The hearings have sparked a wide-ranging debate in France about whether the country's legal definition of rape should be expanded to include explicit mention of consent.
Some defendants argued that Dominique Pelicot's consent covered his wife, too. Some want to justify their behavior by insisting that they did not intend to rape anyone when they responded to their husband's invitations to come to their home. Others blamed his department, saying he misled them into thinking they were participating in the deal.
-Associated Press reporters Alex Turnbull in Paris and Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Lyon, France, contributed.
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