When she walks into the courthouse in the French city of Avignon, flanked by her children and a team of lawyers, Gisèle Pelicot cuts an unassuming figure.The 72-year-old mother and grandmother, her hair styled into a neat bob, wears colourful dresses and Breton tops. She looks down as she passes the dozens of journalists gathered by the entrance, her eyes hidden by round-framed sunglasses.Behind them, as she has put it, lies a “field of ruins”.Nearly every day since 2 September, Gisèle Pelicot has been at the centre of a trial in which 51 men are accused of raping her, including the man she was married to for 50 years.As her story has rippled through France since the trial began, she has become a symbol of courage and resilience.”I was sacrificed on the altar of vice,” she said, explaining how she had learned that Dominique Pelicot had drugged her to sleep and recruited men to treat her “like a rag doll” for over 10 years.The trial, due to run until December, has so far heard evidence from lawyers, police, psychiatrists, and from another woman whose husband drugged and raped her following instructions by Dominique.
The Pelicots’ daughter, Caroline, who believes her father abused her when she was unconscious, has also taken the stand.Dominique Pelicot has admitted the charges against him, although he denies abusing his daughter.Unsettling details of the defendants’ pasts, psyches and alleged crimes have filled the airwaves, news websites and social networks.This kind of access has only become possible because Gisèle has waived her right to anonymity.In a case of such magnitude it is an unusual decision, not least because it means thousands of videos of the alleged rapes filmed by Dominique Pelicot – in some cases surreptitiously – will eventually be played in open court.Gisèle’s only request was that her children be allowed to leave the room when that happens
Her legal team said opening up the trial would shift the “shame” back on to the accused.Above all, the case has ignited a painful – and often uncomfortable – discussion about rape that many in France say is long overdue.Protests were due to be held across the country on Saturday “in support of Gisèle Pelicot and of all rape victims”.When Gisèle gave evidence that she had to “start over from scratch” and was now only living off a small pension, an influencer set up an online collection that made €40,000 (£33,700) in under a day. It was quickly shut down following a request from Gisèle’s legal team, who saw it as a possible distraction.
One key issue this case has thrown up is the little-discussed phenomenon of chemical submission – drug-induced assault in the home.In 2022, 1,229 people in France suspected they had been drugged without their knowledge, according to Leila Chaouachi, a pharmacist at the Paris addiction monitoring centre and an expert on drug rape.That number is probably “only the tip of the iceberg”, she believes. Victims often hesitate to file legal complaints because they know the assailant, they might be ashamed, or they have hazy memories of what happened.Complaints also need to be filed before the substances disappear from the body, which is not always possible.For the 10 years her husband was drugging her, Gisèle Pelicot had unexplained neurological symptoms as well as gynaecological issues, and yet no-one put the clues together.It points to a lack of awareness of chemical submission as a phenomenon.Dr Chaouachi says training healthcare professionals and police is important, because the key to stemming the issue lies in recognising that there are others out there besides Gisèle.“We have the right to be shocked, but we also need to recognise that these aren’t isolated cases,” she says.“When we only focus on the justice system and investigators, we’re hiding behind them in some way. I think it’s a broader societal issue, and therefore it’s societal change that we need.”Judging from opinions voiced on the streets of Paris, that view is not universally accepted
