Final phase of mass rape case that has horrified France

After ten weeks, the mass rape trial that has shocked France is entering the final phase of final statements.

The case centers on a former married couple, Dominique and Gisèle Pelicot, retirees who are now in their early seventies.

Ms Pelicot’s legal team will make their final statements on Tuesday, followed by the defense ahead of the verdict by a five-judge panel expected on December 20.

Dominique Pelicot was tried in September together with fifty other men in the southern city of Avignon.

Each chapter of this case has played out in full public view as Ms Pelicot has renounced her anonymity, making the entire trial accessible to the media and the public.

In France it has become known as the Mazan affairafter the village near Avignon where the Pelicotes lived.

In November 2020, Dominique Pelicot admitted to drugging his then-wife for nearly a decade and recruiting dozens of men online to rape her in their home while she was unconscious.

Police tracked down his co-accused through thousands of videos they found on Mr Pelicot’s laptop, although they were unable to identify another 21 men. Investigators said they have evidence of about 200 rapes committed between 2011 and 2020.

The majority of defendants deny the rape allegations and argue that they cannot be guilty because they did not realize that Ms. Pelicot was unconscious and therefore did not “know” that they were raping her.

This line of defense has led to a national debate about whether consent should be expanded The French legal definition of rapecurrently defined as “any act of sexual penetration against another person by force, coercion, threat or surprise”.

The trial has also shed light on the issue of chemical submission: drug-induced sexual assault.

Blackouts and memory loss after years of marriage

Dominique and Gisèle Pelicot, both born in 1952, married in 1973 and had three children. She worked as a manager at a large French company, while he – a trained electrician – founded several ultimately failed companies.

The Pelicots lived in the Paris region until 2013, when they retired to the picturesque southern village of Mazan. They had a large house with a pool and often entertained their extended family during the summer holidays.

By all accounts they were a happy, close couple. “We shared holidays, anniversaries, Christmases… That was all happiness for me,” Ms. Pelicot has said.

Between 2011 and 2020, Ms. Pelicot began experiencing disturbing symptoms that she believed were signs of Alzheimer’s disease or a brain tumor, and underwent extensive medical examinations. The blackouts and memory loss were actually side effects of the medications her husband gave her without her knowledge.

Mrs. Pelicot divorced her husband shortly after his crimes came to light. She is using her married name only for the purposes of the lawsuit.

Dominique Pelicot has been in prison since November 2020. He will be sentenced next month, along with the other 50 suspects.

How the case came to light

In September 2020, Dominique Pelicot was spotted filming under women’s skirts by a security guard in a supermarket in the south of France.

The police arrested him and confiscated his electronic devices. They noticed suspicious chats on his Skype account and then found thousands of videos of men having sex with an apparently unconscious woman: Mr. Pelicot’s wife, Gisèle.

Investigators worked for weeks to gather enough evidence to take Mr. Pelicot into custody and finally arrested him in November 2020. He immediately admitted to all charges.

When Ms. Pelicot was questioned by police and shown photos and videos of her appearing unconscious, it became clear that she did not know what had happened to her. She denied ever consenting to sex with other men and realized her husband had drugged her for nearly a decade.

Fifty-one men in the dock

Fifty men – aged between 26 and 72 – are on trial alongside Mr Pelicot.

They come from all walks of life: among them are a firefighter, a carpenter, a nurse and a journalist. Many are married and have children. Most lived within 40 miles of the Pelicots’ residence.

A handful have admitted to raping Ms Pelicot.

However, the majority rejects the allegations. Their defense rests on the fact that they did not believe what they did was rape because they were not aware that she was unconscious and therefore could not give her consent.

Mr Pelicot has repeatedly denied this was the case, insisting that when he recruited men on the internet he made it abundantly clear that his wife would be sleeping. “They all knew they couldn’t say the opposite,” he has said.

What Gisèle Pelicot has told the court so far

It was Gisèle Pelicot who decided to give up her anonymity – highly unusual in rape cases. Her legal team also pushed for the videos of the alleged rapes to be shown in court.

Ms Pelicot has said she hopes her decision will enable other survivors of sexual violence to speak out: “I want all the women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can do it too. I don’t want them to feel ashamed. even longer.”

She has strongly hit back at the defense’s “degrading” suggestion that she may have been drunk or pretending to be asleep during the alleged rapes, saying she was never interested in partner swapping or threesomes.

However, Mrs Pelicot has also spoken candidly about the devastation her husband’s abuse and lies have wrought on her life. “People might see me and think, ‘That woman is strong,’” she said. “The facade may be solid, but behind it lies a field of ruins.”

How France responded to the trial

The horror of Dominique Pelicot’s actions, the sheer number of men involved in the case and Gisèle Pelicot’s decision to push for a public trial have ensured that the proceedings have received widespread attention.

Dozens of citizens come to the court in Avignon every day to support Mrs Pelicot, greet her with applause and hand her flowers.

Murals depicting her signature look of a short bob and round sunglasses have appeared across the country, and demonstrations have taken place across France in her support.

Most of all, she is credited by many with starting a conversation about rape culture, misogyny, and chemical submission.

Several feminist groups are now urging the government to change its definition of rape to include consent, as is already the case in many European countries.

“Society has already accepted that the difference between sex and rape is consent,” said Greens senator Mélanie Vogel, who proposed a consent-based rape law last year. “However, criminal law has not done that.”