Gisele Pelicot, the woman at the center of France’s mass rape trial, said on Tuesday it was time for a “macho” society to change its attitude to rape as she made her final statement in court.

“It’s time for the macho, patriarchal society that trivializes rape to change,” said Gisele Pelicot, whose ex-husband and dozens of other men are on trial in France accused of raping her while she was drugged.

“It’s time to change the way we look at rape.”

Since early September, her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, has been in the dock in the southern city of Avignon, along with 49 other men. Another defendant is still at large.

The trial entered its final phase this week, with Gisele and Dominique Pelicot addressing the court before prosecutors gave their closing arguments and sentencing requests for the defendants.

Earlier on Tuesday, the court heard the final defendant.

Gisele, 71, said the marathon hearings were the trial of “cowardice”.

“I’ve seen people who deny rape and some who admit it,” she said.

“I want to say to these men: At what point did Mrs. Pelicot give you consent when you entered the room? At what point do you become aware of this inert body? At what point did you not notify the police?”

“I hear this gentleman saying ‘a finger is not rape,'” added Gisele Pelicot.

Investigators counted around 200 cases of rape, most by her husband and more than 90 by strangers.

Gisele said her ex-husband “had a lot of fantasies that I couldn’t fulfill.”

“But why did it come to this? I think what he wanted was Ms. Pelicot and not anyone else,” she added.

“Since I didn’t want to go to a swinger club, he thought he found the solution by putting me to sleep.”

“I lost 10 years of my life that I will never make up for,” she added.

“This scar will never heal.”

The case of Dominique Pelicot, 71, has sparked horror, protests and a debate about male violence in French society.

If convicted, he would emerge from the historic trial with a record as one of France’s worst sex offenders.

Gisela’s life was shattered in 2020 when she discovered that her partner of five decades had been secretly giving her large doses of tranquilizers for years to rape her and invite dozens of strangers to join him in their home in the village of Mazan.