French woman Gisele Pelicot, the victim of an alleged mass rape orchestrated by her husband Dominique Pelicot at their home in the southern French town of Mazan, arrives to attend Dominique Pelicot’s trial with 50 co-defendants at the court in Avignon, France, on November 19, 2024. | Photo credit: Reuters

Gisele PelicotThe French woman drugged by her ex-husband so she could be raped and sexually abused by him and dozens of strangers said on Tuesday (19 November 2024) that it was time for a “macho” society to change its attitude towards rape.

“It’s time for the macho, patriarchal society that trivializes rape to change,” Gisele Pelicot said in her closing statement at the trial of her ex-husband and dozens of other men accused of rape.

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

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.

Gisele Pelicot has become a feminist icon, refusing to be shamed and demanding that the trial be open to the public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

Mrs Gisele, 71, said the marathon hearings marked a trial of “cowardice” on the part of the men who took part in her husband’s organized rapes.

“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 permission to enter the room? At what point do you become aware of this lifeless body? At what point do you not report it to the police?”

None of her attackers alerted the police.

“I hear this gentleman saying ‘a finger is not rape,'” added Gisele Pelicot, referring to the testimony of another defendant.

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

– “The scar will never heal” –

Ms 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 Mrs. Pelicot and no one 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 trial enters its final phase this week. Dominique Pelicot was also scheduled to address the court before the civil parties presented their closing arguments.

Prosecutors are then scheduled to give their closing arguments and make sentencing requests for the defendants.

On Monday, the couple’s three children spoke in court of their grief and pain, with the daughter insisting she had been “forgotten” despite also being abused.

Ms Gisele’s daughter, who uses the pseudonym Caroline Darian, believes she was also assaulted by her father.

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

Dominique Pelicot confessed to being a rapist. If convicted, he would emerge from the historic trial with a record as one of France’s worst sex offenders.

Of the co-defendants, only 14 pleaded guilty to aggravated rape charges, for which most face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The other 35 deny raping Gisele Pelicot and claim they thought they were taking part in sex games.

– “One for all” –

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

Gisele Pelicot said she had had strange memory lapses and other health problems for years and thought she might have Alzheimer’s.

Many hope that the trial will help victims of sexual violence to finally be heard and believed and lead France to include the notion of consent in the definition of rape in French law.

“One for all,” French daily Liberation said Tuesday, running a front-page photo of Ms. Gisele and calling the trial “historic.”

The verdict is expected to be handed down on December 20 at the latest.