oneAs Giselle Pellicot walked down the steps of the Avignon courthouse after the largest rape trial in French history, hundreds of supporters from across France and Europe erupted in cheers and applause, chanting: ” Thank you, Gisele.
Others held placards that read “Shame has changed sides,” in memory of her words in October explaining why she gave up her anonymity and faced her rapist in court: “We shouldn’t be ashamed,” she said Then. “This is for them.”
Posters reading “Women unite with Giselle” and “Thank you for your bravery” were plastered on the walls of the southern French city on Thursday as her ex-husband and 50 other men were put on trial in court. .
The 72-year-old former logistics manager and grandmother of seven became a feminist hero around the world after insisting on a public rape trial. For nearly a decade, her then-husband slipped sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs into her food and drinks and invited dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious in bed in the Provence village of Mazan. Most of the defendants deny the rape, saying they thought it was a game or that her husband consented on her behalf.
Inside the courtroom on Thursday, 51 defendants, aged between 26 and 74, including a soldier, a fire officer, a nurse, a journalist and a prison warden, sat in silence with their heads bowed Stand and listen to the presiding judge read the court decision. Each man was convicted of at least one count – 47 counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape and two counts of sexual assault. Some cried and reached for tissues. Some of their family members also began to cry, including the mother of a painter and decorator who raped Gisèle Pelicot in her bed at age 24 when she was 65.
Dominic Pellicot also bowed his head and cried when he was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, but waiting members of the public outside the Crown Court erupted in cheers when they heard the news.
Pelicot’s co-defendants were sentenced to three to 15 years in prison. Some of the sentences were significantly lower than those recommended by prosecutors, and several women shouted in the street: “Shame on the justice system!”
A defense lawyer left the courthouse, calling the women protesting outside “hysterical” and “tricots” – comparing them to the women who watched the guillotine fall and weave during the French Revolution. Daphne, 42, a writer in Montpellier, was shocked by the comment. “It shows that this is just the first step in the fight, and the fight continues. Society does deny men’s violence against women,” she said.
Most of the men were taken away by the police and began serving their sentences. The crowd booed, hissed and jeered as the handful of people on probation left the courthouse.
Amid the frenzy, a calm and soft-spoken Giselle Pellicott walked out of the courtroom, accompanied by her grandchildren and other family members, and read a prepared statement to the hundreds of reporters gathered around her. She said the four-month trial had been a “difficult ordeal” but she had led the fight for her children and grandchildren “because they are the future”. She said her heart goes out to all the “unrecognized” female victims whose stories remain in the shadows. “I want you to know that we are in the same battle,” she said.
Gisele Pellicott received and read dozens of testimonies and letters from women around the world during the trial and wore a silk scarf when she appeared in court for sentencing, an Australian advocacy group dedicated to raising awareness. A sexual assault awareness organization gave it to her as a show of solidarity. She thanked everyone who supported her. “I was deeply moved by your testimony, and I drew strength from it to come back every day to this long trial,” she said.
“When I opened the door to this trial on September 2, I hoped that society would engage in this debate. I have never regretted that decision,” she continued. “I believe we have the ability to seize a future together where everyone, male and female, can live in harmony with mutual respect and understanding.”
Vigdis, who runs an organization that provides free support to survivors of domestic violence, held a placard outside the court against France’s low rape conviction rate and said: “This is a historic moment. Gisele Pellico shines a light on the fact that rapists can be people who look like good fathers and heads of families, not necessarily monsters you encounter on the street. These men are everywhere and society shapes them. Gisele Pellico represents hope. She shows us what happens behind closed bedroom doors in our homes.
Throughout the trial and its shocking video evidence, Gisele Pellicot said she was raped more than 200 times by men who treated her “like a rag doll, like a rag doll” “Sacrifice on the altar of sin.”
After the verdict, she left the courtroom with her head held high and cheers, with supporters calling her inspirational. She told the court during the trial: “I heard a lot of women and men say you were very brave. I said it was not courage but the will and determination to change society.