Gisele Pelicot, French victim of mass rape, hopes trial will help other women
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Ms Gisele Pelicot tells the court on Oct 23 that she is now “a woman who’s totally destroyed”.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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AVIGNON, France – Ms Gisele Pelicot, the 72-year-old victim of mass rape whose ordeal has shocked the world, told a trial in southern France on Oct 23 that she was determined that making her case public should help other women and change society.
Dominique Pelicot, her husband, has admitted to inviting dozens of strangers over nearly 10 years to their house to rape her after he had drugged her. Fifty other men are also standing trial, accused of raping her.
Ms Pelicot, her voice often shaking with emotion, told the court she was destroyed by what happened to her. She told of how “unbelievably violent” it was for her that many of the accused in the trial, which started on Sept 2, said they thought she agreed to the rapes or was faking sleeping.
“I’ve decided not to be ashamed. I’ve done nothing wrong,” Ms Pelicot, who has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence, told the court in Avignon.
She said she insisted the trial be held publicly, and not behind closed doors, as is often the case to protect rape victims, in the hope it would help other rape victims.
“They (rapists) are the ones who must be ashamed,” she said, adding that having videos, filmed by her husband, of some of her rapes, shown during the trial, was “very difficult but necessary”.
“I’m not expressing hatred or hate, but I am determined that things change in this society,” she said.
This court sketch shows defendant Dominique Pelicot during his trial in which he is accused of drugging his wife for nearly 10 years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home.
PHOTO: AFP
Protests have been organised across France
“It’s not courage. It’s determination to change things,” she said. “This is not just my battle, but that of all rape victims.”
Most of the accused told the court they have been manipulated by Dominique Pelicot, putting the blame on him. Only a few have admitted to raping Ms Pelicot.
“I hear those apologies, but they are inaudible,” she told the court. “By apologising, they are trying to excuse themselves.”
Saying her husband’s betrayal of her trust was beyond measure, Ms Pelicot told the court: “I’m a woman who’s totally destroyed.”
She had thought he was the perfect husband, she told the court, before adding: “My life has tumbled into nothingness.” REUTERS
