Gisèle Pelicot's ex-husband and 51 other men were convicted of raping her over a multiyear period. This case, which gained international attention, highlights the issue of systemic misogyny and the need for a more comprehensive approach to addressing sexual violence.
Gisèle Pelicot arrives with her lawyer, Antoine Camus, in front of the courthouse before a verdict in the Pelicot case is delivered on Dec. 19 in Avignon, France. Pelicot's ex-husband and 51 other men were charged with raping her over a multiyear period, in encounters arranged by her then-husband while she was drugged and unconscious.When the verdict came down in the Gisèle Pelicot trial, it made international headlines.
For nearly a decade, Gisèle’s husband, Dominique Pelicot, drugged her and invited strangers to rape her while she was unconscious, filming these heinous acts. Dominique received the maximum sentence of 20 years for aggravated rape, while 49 other men were also convicted of rape, and two additional men were found guilty of sexual assault Many victims would understandably prefer to keep such a case private, inadvertently shielding their perpetrators in the process. But Gisèle, now 71, made a different choice. She broke her silence and waived her anonymity to shift the shame from herself to the offenders. She is, without question, a hero.Her decision to take this case public in every possible way ― down to pushing for the videos to be shown in court ― has done much to shift shame back to its appropriate place. It’s incredibly courageous of a grandmother without a history of activism to take such an unwavering stance. But as much as her bravery deserves celebration, the verdicts left me neither relieved nor hopeful for the future. The scale of this case ― with 51 perpetrators identified and 92 recorded assaults ― is staggering. In U.S. legal terms, Dominique would be the ringleader of a RICO-style rape conspiracy. Yet, the French justice system treated it as a series of individual transgressions, ignoring the systemic misogyny underpinning the crimes. And, as this wasn’t a crime like fraud or bribery, I doubt we would have done any better here. It seems like the only time rape is taken seriously is when there’s DNA evidence, and the victim is dea
Rape Sexual Assault Justice System Systemic Misogyny Victim Advocacy
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