Australian supporters give Gisele Pelicot an Aboriginal print scarf in solidarity during the rape trial against alleged abusers

WARNING: The details in this story may be disturbing to some readers.

Gisele Pelicot, the woman who won worldwide support after she joined dozens of men in publicly denouncing her husband’s decade-long campaign to drug and rape her, has worn a scarf depicting Aboriginal artworks that were sent to her by Australian supporters court were sent.

Donated by an advocacy group for the rights of older women, 71-year-old Ms Pelicot wore the scarf on Wednesday, local time, as the trial of 51 men accused of sexual abuse in the southern French city of Avignon reached its halfway point. .

Yumi Lee, the CEO of the Older Women’s Network NSW, collected donations to purchase the scarf through a social media appeal on the network’s Facebook page.

She sent it “on behalf of all women who want to express their solidarity”, Ms Lee told the ABC.

“Because we can’t be there to be in the courtroom, to stand there with our banners, so we wanted to send her a gift that she could wear to know that women all over the world are thinking of her and cheering for her.” to her.”

The silk scarf is printed with a design by Martu woman Mulyatingki Marney from the Punmu community in Western Australia.

It shows a cluster of saltwater pools in Wilarra, near Mrs Marney’s home, known for their healing properties, with a family of dingoes watched by the moon.

The case of Dominique Pelicot, Ms. Pelicot’s former husband, became known worldwide after the trial began with allegations that he repeatedly drugged her and had dozens of men come to their home in Mazan to rape her as she lay unconscious.

In often moving testimonies, Ms Pelicot has said she wants to remove the stigma of sexual violence for victims and instead “switch sides” of the shame for perpetrators.

Although Mr. Pelicot and some of his co-defendants have admitted guilt, some of the alleged perpetrators have not.

Under France’s inquisitorial criminal justice system, evidence for all their alleged crimes will be heard in court.

Ms Pelicot has attended the majority of the hearings, some of which showed video evidence of her abuse and provided testimony.

Ms Lee said she had been following the case along with many other women in the network, which works to support the rights and dignity of older women, and wanted to do something to empower Ms Pelicot.

Ms Lee included a letter to Ms Pelicot with the scarf telling of the love and solidarity of Australian women and others around the world, telling her to “imagine yourself wrapped in the love of older women from Down Under” when you wear the scarf.

The organization is running a project to develop training materials for frontline workers to better respond to and engage with older women who disclose they have been sexually assaulted, as well as body mapping workshops across Australia.

“It was very clear to us that many older women carry trauma with them, and that includes sexual abuse when they were children to teenagers, young women and so on,” Ms Lee said.

“Older women really understand the trauma of what she’s going through,” she continued, saying Ms Pelicot’s pain was on an “unprecedented scale”.

She had sent the scarf by courier to Ms Pelicot’s lawyer, Stéphane Babonneau, at his office in Paris.

“We didn’t have an address… so we Googled it. This is the miracle of Google,” she said.

“He gave her the scarf and told us she was very interested in the link with First Nations culture and that she would be wearing it in court this week.”

Ms Pelicot has received global support for her choice to renounce her anonymity as a victim, meaning her husband and the 50 co-suspects in the rape case are subject to a public trial.

Mr Pelicot has pleaded guilty along with a number of other accused men, telling the court in September: “I am a rapist” and asking for forgiveness.

A ruling in the case is expected in December.

ABC/AFP