Pelicot tells rape trial: we must change society

Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman who has become a feminist hero for insisting the rape trial of her former husband and 50 other men should be held in public, told a court in southern France yesterday she was driven by her desire to change society and expose rape culture.

- Angelique Chrisafis

"I am a woman who is totally destroyed and I don't know how I'm going to rebuild myself. I'm 72 soon and I'm not sure my life will be long enough to recover from this," said the former logistics manager, who was repeatedly unknowingly sedated and raped by her then husband, Dominique Pelicot, 71.

He crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication into her food and drink and invited men to rape her over a nine-year period from 2011 to 2020 in the village of Mazan, in Provence.

Members of the public had queued from before dawn outside the criminal court in Avignon to show their support in a case that has gained coverage worldwide and prompted thousands across France to demonstrate for a tightening of rape laws and better handling of rape cases by the justice system.

Pelicot arrived and left court to cheers and applause, as she has done every day since the trial began last month. Many of the supporters said they hoped the case change attitudes to rape and consent. Several walls of the city were papered with messages of support, including "Gisèle, women thank you".

Gisèle Pelicot was asked in court how she has handled sitting through almost two months of evidence from dozens of men who are accused of raping her in her own home when she was drugged and unconscious.

She said: "It's true that I hear lots of women, and men, who say you're very brave. I say it's not bravery, it's will and determination to change society."