Gisèle Pelicot, the victim of a French mass rape trial, told the court she “could have died” as she took the stand to make her final statement on Tuesday.

Her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, is accused of drugging and raping her and inviting around 50 other men to do the same over a nine-year period.

Making her final statement before prosecutors and defense teams presented their closing arguments, she said “it’s time to change the way we look at rape.”

“It’s time to change the macho, patriarchal society that trivializes rape,” she said.

Gisèle Pelicot also spoke about the health implications of drugs and rape. She told the court that: “I lost ten years of my life” because of the medical consequences. “This scar will never heal.”

She adds that her health problems felt “like a death sentence” and that in the depths of her medical problems “(she) thought about either dying or going to a mental hospital.”

Gisèle Pelicot continued to wonder why this happened. “Because I didn’t want to go to a swingers club, he thought he had found the solution by putting me to sleep,” she said.

In September, Dominique Pelicot admitted the charges brought against him and told the court in the southern city of Avignon: “I am a rapist, like the other men in this room.”

Many of the men on trial alongside him deny the charges and claim they were manipulated by Dominique or say they believed she consented. One of the accused is still at large.

Pelicot allegedly filmed many of the alleged crimes against his wife.

Video evidence of the alleged rapes was found after Dominique Pelicot was arrested in 2020 for filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket.

Images of the couple’s daughter Caroline, partially naked, were also found on Dominique’s laptop. Pelicot’s children left the room when Gisèle was asked about them.

During the trial, Gisèle Pelicot became a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France, recognized for renouncing anonymity in the case.

She has previously said she does not want to be ashamed of the alleged crimes against her. She echoed that thought today when asked about continuing to use the last name of her alleged abuser and ex-husband. She said of her grandchildren: “They shouldn’t be ashamed to have this name.”

A total of 50 men were identified by the police from the films tagged and stored by Dominique Pelicot. The men on trial face up to 20 years in prison.

Aged between 26 and 74, the accused include agricultural workers, a journalist, a nurse, a prison officer, a local councillor, a soldier and truck drivers.

A defense attorney questioned whether Gisèle had more anger toward the defendants than her husband. Gisèle said she is a “positive” person and acknowledges her ex-husband’s “complicated” upbringing, but does not forgive him: “His actions were unforgivable.”

But Gisèle has spoken of her “fury” at the men her husband provoked into raping her: “Not for a second did they report things to the police. (…) Everyone could have reported this. None of them did.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever feel at peace for the rest of my life. I will learn to live with it. I will rebuild myself. But there will forever be 51 people who defiled me. And I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

Dominique Pelicot will take the stand on Tuesday afternoon.

A five-judge panel is expected to deliver its verdict on December 20.

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