‘Rape is rape,’ says Gisèle Pelicot, who condemns 50 men accused of raping French woman in her sleep

WARNING: This article may impact people who have experienced sexual violence or know someone who has.

Gisèle Pelicotwhose husband orchestrated her mass rape over a decade, condemned on Tuesday the cowardice of the dozens of men accused of abusing her and who claim they did not realize it was rape.

She added The patriarchal society of France must change.

Dominique Pelicot, her husband, has admitted to drugging his wife and inviting strangers to their home to rape her while she was unconscious, in a trial that has attracted worldwide attention and become an investigation into the pervasiveness of sexual violence .

Most of the 50 other men on trial have said they did not realize they were raping her, did not intend to rape her or placed all the blame on her husband, who they said manipulated them.

“For me, this is the process of cowardice, there is no other way to describe it,” said Gisèle Pelicot, adding that there was no excuse to abuse her when she was unconscious.

A video recorded by her husband and shown in court in recent weeks repeatedly shows her motionless and sometimes snoring as the suspect abused her.

“If you walk into a bedroom and see a motionless body, at what point (do you decide) not to respond,” she said in an address to the suspects, many of whom were in the courtroom. “Why didn’t you leave immediately and report it to the police?”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, only learned of the abuse four years ago when police came across videos and photos her husband had recorded of the abuse he orchestrated.

‘Rape is rape’

She told the court she was angry with the suspect, not least because any of them could have ended her ordeal at any time if they had charged her husband.

“They must take responsibility for their actions. They raped. Rape is rape,” she added.

It is the third time that Gisèle Pelicot has addressed the court in Avignon, in southern France, as the trial moves towards delivering verdicts around December 20.

Under French law, Gisèle Pelicot could have asked for the trial to take place behind closed doors. Instead, she asked for it to take place in public, saying she hoped it would help other women speak out and show that victims have nothing to be ashamed of.

“It is time for society to look at this macho, patriarchal society and change the way it views rape,” she told the court. She said she would never forgive her husband.

On Monday, the Pelicots’ two sons asked the court to punish him severely. They also said that they would never forgive him and that he was dead to them. Their sister said she believed Dominique Pelicot also drugged and abused her.

Dominique Pelicot, 71, will address the court later on Tuesday. His lawyer Beatrice Navarro told reporters he was “very depressed.”

“I told him that we should not leave this hearing without him stating exactly the reasons why he behaved the way he did toward his wife,” Navarro said. “So I hope with all my heart that we will come out of this with an explanation tonight.”

LOOK | Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer criticizes the suspects:

Lawyer in French mass rape trial denounces ‘cowardice’ of men

Lawyer Stéphane Babonneau says Gisèle Pelicot cannot forgive the “cowardice” of the 50 men accused of raping her while she was drugged unconscious by her husband. Any of them could have alerted authorities anonymously, “and so for her this is also the trial of cowardice,” he said.

For anyone who has been sexually abused, support is available through crisis lines and local emergency services through the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. ​​

Support is available for anyone experiencing family or partner violence crisis lines and local support services. ​​

If you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety or the safety of others around you, call 911.