Landmark Rape Case of Gisèle Pelicot: As Ex-Husband & 50 Men Are Sentenced, Will French Laws Change?

In France, sentences have been handed down in the trial of Dominique Pelicot and 51 other men convicted of rape against Pelicot’s ex-wife, Gisèle. Dominique Pelicot had repeatedly and systematically drugged and facilitated the rape of Gisèle Pelicot, approaching other men online to visit their home and assault her over a period of 10 years. Pelicot waived anonymity and fought for a public trial in the historic case, a decision that shaped the public discourse on sexual violence and the prevalence of chemical submission and drug-assisted sexual assault. “We were all here to wait for Gisèle, but also we were all here for one another,” says Diane de Vignemont, a French journalist who reported on the Pelicot trial and found a “sisterhood” that formed among women attendees to the trial, many of whom shared their own experiences with sexual assault.

[Rami_A]

“It is not for us to feel shame, it’s for them to feel shame “ I felt that .

[reguisthesjw]

She's ceased to be a victim and became a hero. So proud of my fellow french citizen.Merci pour toujours. La honte doit changer de camp.

[blueprairiedog]

She deserves that Nobel Peace Prize for singlehandedly exposing the ubiquity of rape culture.

[Kittykatkits]

The fact that 20 years is the limit on how long he can be locked up is itself a miscarriage of justice

[batgirlp]

Those men gave her STDs and her husband accused her of cheating! He is a monster and they should all spend their lives in prison 😢

[aminamangera]

The horror does not stop with Gisele as some of these rapists asked Daniel Pilicot to teach them how to drug their partners/wives.

[missolesoul]

I was telling my mother about this case and she thought I was gravitating toward a bizarre website that love to glorify any violence. When I told her this was national news she was, as I was, stunned into silence. Merci, Gisele.

[PacoSmith]

I agree that a 20 year sentence is far from adequate for such a grotesque violation of the victim.

[dimitrabouzalas]

The maximum penalty in France for rape is 20 years. But this was not rape, it was - x50
It was disgusting of the judge not to give a sentence relevant to the crime.

[upendasana]

We need to see ALL the men faces...why are they still be given anonymity ?!!! There were men who were nurses, fathers, husbands, local men who were living within a 30 mile radious..one of them was even about to adopt a child
There are still men who have not been identified and she walks around her village not knowing of a man she meets might be one of them !!!! Also until recently upskirting was not an offence until recently a young women made it illegal to upskirt and is considered a minor offence.If not for that security guard noticing and reporting him upskirting he would never have been caught

[gardenboots]

As a survivor of repeated rape - I greatly appreciate this investigation and reporting. MERCI GISELE!!

[gerdapiprek]

What an utterly condescending patronizing mysogonistic excuse that he assumed the husband gave consent

[elizabethaltschull]

I live in France. The trial is important because it reveals the use of drugs in rape, the toxicity of certain websites, and perhaps more profoundly the lack of empathy of many men who still during the trial did not realize they had committed rape. The idea of consent is an important cultural one, but it is not the fault of the law. Clearly if as the law says, it's an act by force/ threat, coercion or suprise, it's clear that a rape by definition is not consented to. Changing the wording of the law isn't really the solution ( what if a man produces proof of the consent of a woman who later changed her mind?). The solution is a vast cultural movement to raise awareness in men that they must base their sexuality on mutual desire. These rapists were aroused by the very fact that Gisele was unconscious ( even if she was " pretending to be asleep" - disproven - that is very perverse). There is a very broad conversation to have about positive attraction and desire being as much an integral part of male desire as it is of female desire.
Her children have been very supportive of her (there is strong suspicion but no hard proof that Pelicot raped his daughter as well - a sick, sick man) and have created together an association called "Please don't put me to sleep" to raise awareness about drug based sexual abuse (cf Bill Cosby for example).

[leavesinautumn]

When you think you live in a civilized society, something like this reminds you just how wrong you are ..

[OmANnIe]

Horrific, appalling, and abhorrent, don't go far enough to describe her ex-husband and the actions of these "men". I don't have the words. My heart is completely with Ms. Gisele Pelicot and I wholeheartedly admire her strength and courage. I cannot imagine all she's been through and will continue to experience.

[brendasmart]

She proudly redirects the inappropriate shame of being SA victims- into the more proper shame onto the SA perps!!! Soooo brave!! 👩‍🌾 Sooo horrible of these sickos!! 💔

[doveschrist]

If a VICTIM is UNCONSCIOUS then they DEFINITELY DID NOT give consent!!! This French law is absurd!!! SMH 🤦🏽‍♀️ Ladies of France 🇫🇷 come together in agreement and FIGHT for your rights!!!

[thecarspins]

What a dispicable individual he is. Giselle, you are a woman of great strength. Thank you for your courage.

[frujf]

I'm glad she stood up to them. It's hard to believe people can be so sick.

[TrrsnSmrg]

I am forever grateful for madame pelicot's service to all humanity. We need also to commend the bravery and value of her daughter Caroline and her son's ex-wife. Madame pelicot's ex-husband also took criminal pictures of his daughter and daughter in law, and gave pills to someone intending to rape. It is beyond absurd that he didn't get life in prison. He has repeatedly refused to answer his daughter's questions after sedating her. Caroline needs and deserves to know if her father raped her.