Candy and sympathy: French aid group goes beyond moral support for stressed mass rape survivor as trial enters third month

AVIGNON (France), November 17 – When videos of the abuse she suffered are shown in court, Gisele Pelicot usually looks away and chooses to talk to a young woman sitting next to her.

The woman’s presence puts the 71-year-old mass rape survivor at ease, and sometimes even brings a smile to her face.

Anne-Sophie Langlet, representative of the Association for Mediation and Assistance to Victims (Amav), has been at Gisele’s side since the opening of the harrowing trial in the southern city of Avignon on September 2, becoming her assistant and confidante.

Gisele’s former husband, Dominique Pelicot, is on trial for raping and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife for nearly a decade. He is in the dock with 50 other men, many of whom have denied the charges.

Gisele has become a feminist icon in France and abroad, pushing from the start for the trial to be public to draw attention to the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

The hearings, which have attracted worldwide attention, have been incredibly difficult for Gisele, who said in September that she was a “field of ruins”.

Langlet said her job was not only to help Gisele and her three children understand the legal process, but also to provide moral support “in what she is going through, in the fight she is waging for all the victims.”

“That’s what she needs most, and I think that’s why it’s important for us to be there,” said Langlet, who described herself as a “social legal assistant.”

‘Safety net’

Unlike lawyers, Amav employees must adopt a neutral attitude.

“There is no complicity, no friendship,” Langlet said.

“It’s really about always being there for her and letting her know that if she wants to say something, we can take it to heart,” Langlet said.

“We have set up a psychological safety net in case she needs it,” added the legal expert, who is sometimes replaced by two other colleagues.

Langlet said Gisele sometimes asks “why a lawyer says what he says.”

Amav is one of 130 French associations that provide support to victims of crimes, including rape and intimidation.

“We have victims who have a lawyer, but who also want us to help them because they need verbal support, because depending on the nature of the case, the lawyer is focused on the procedure and does not have time to represent his client. to assure. ”, said the association’s director, Magali Blasco.

“There is a relationship of trust that has been built up in advance, which makes us a bit of a link with the lawyers.”

At the end of August, the Avignon public prosecutor’s office asked the association to accompany the family during the trial.

Candy during the break

Langlet said she met Gisele 15 minutes before the opening hearing on September 2, and that a “relationship of trust” was immediately established.

“It was important to have someone with her when the videos were broadcast, for example. She didn’t want anyone near her, which is understandable,” Langlet said.

“At the same time, it was difficult for her to be alone because the lawyers were in front of her.”

Langlet also taught Gisele and her children breathing exercises and techniques to relieve stress and anxiety during the hearings.

The Amav members were initially asked to accompany Gisele and her children during the first two days of the hearings, but at the request of the family, support has been extended for the duration of the trial, which is expected to last until December 20.

One of Gisele’s lawyers praised the support of Langlet and her colleagues.

“These are people who are very human, very competent and who will certainly help our client get through this ordeal,” Stephane Babonneau told AFP.

“It is a sympathetic presence, provided by a team of professionals who really demonstrate that helping victims is a profession,” he added.

In a room adjacent to the courtroom, a ‘decompression room’ has been set up for the family with food and drinks.

It’s where Gisele Pelicot blows off steam.

She has never eaten so much candy, Langlet said.

“We provide her with sweets and she eats them during every break,” she said. —AFP