How a seventy-two-year-old woman from a small town in the south of France, with a frail body and a head held high, became an icon of the fight for the dignity of women after she imprisoned 51 men who raped her, including her husband
As a rule, the most important events of the year are wars, scientific discoveries and the like. The outgoing one, in 2024, will be remembered for the fact that she was marked on the world stage by a seventy-two-year-old woman from Mazan, a village in the south-east of France, with only 6000 inhabitants. Giselle Pellicot is a name that the whole world knows today, the name of a woman who turned the horror that happened to her into courage and became a super-heroine. She was raped for a decade, while she was drugged and unconscious. In mid-December, 51 men, including her husband Dominique Pellicoa, was found guilty, and Dominic was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
It was September 2020 when a police officer in a supermarket noticed an elderly man secretly slipping his phone under women's skirts and taking photos. The man was arrested, his phone was confiscated, and then the policemen revealed absolute hell. Because of the materials found on the phone, they requested a warrant to search his computer as well. And there, along with plenty of other gruesome material, hours and hours of footage of Giselle Pellicot, who was raped by 2010 unknown men and Dominic in the period from 2020 to 83, were found.
Gisele was evidently unconscious in the videos. Moreover, she didn't even know what was happening to her until the police cautiously informed her. One of the policemen first showed her several photos in which she recognized herself. Then he prepared her for many more shots. Giselle saw the tapes and did not remember any of the events, nor did she know who the men in the tapes were. At least not all of them. She recognized some as neighbors from Mazan, but most were completely unknown to her.
"Everything collapsed, everything I had built for 50 years", said Gisele in one of the interviews, describing the reaction to the recordings. For fifty years, she built a marriage with Dominic. They were married that long and during that time they had three children who are standing by their mother's side today.
Giselle, moreover, thought she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. She had, over the years, holes in her memory. Perhaps the most significant alarm was when she went to the hairdresser, and the next morning had a panic attack when she saw herself in the mirror. She didn't know what happened to her hair. Because of this, she visited specialists and received therapy for dementia.
WHAT GISEL DIDN'T KNOW
It turned out, however, that Giselle Pellicot is a perfectly healthy woman. The cause of her ailments were insanely large amounts of sedatives that her husband had been putting in her food and drink for years. He waited for her to pass out completely, and then, through creepy dating sites, he invited men to have sex with her and filmed it. Of the 83 men, the police identified 50. Their trial began in August of this year and it was already known then that it would last four months.
Only then, in August, did the French and world public learn about this case. In France, as a rule, trials for sexual violence take place without the presence of the public, with the identity of the victim being strictly guarded.
Giselle Pellicot did not want anonymity. However, she could not just reject her. She had to explain her wish to the court and wait for the decision on ending her anonymity. "It's time for the shame to change sides, and the shame is theirs, not mine," she told the judge, referring to her rapists. "Fortunately, I have evidence, which is very rare. So I have to go through all this on behalf of all the other victims.”
Later, when journalists described her as brave, she said: "No, this is not courage, this is the will and determination to change the society in which I live."
A video of 50 wretches queuing up in front of a court in Avignon has gone viral. They stand one behind the other, of the most different physiognomy, age, profession... The youngest was 26 years old and raped Giselle on two occasions, once while his wife was giving birth. But at least he admitted that he was a rapist. True, the vast majority of these fifty said that they consider themselves rapists, but mostly "because that's what the definition of rape reads."
The few who refused to plead guilty had some pretty crazy excuses. "I thought she was dead," said one of them. Another pleaded not guilty because he didn't know what mutual consent was at the time, so he thought it was enough that Dominic Pellico said it was okay to rape his wife. He considers himself Dominic's victim. A third thought Giselle was faking being unconscious. The fourth admitted that rape attracts him, but that he was disappointed by the experience because he "likes when women scream".
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE
Fifty-one identified rapists Giselle Pellicot could mislead as it is possible to create a profile of rapists based on this group. Well, it's not. Their age range is from 26 to 74. Some of their occupations are: medical technician, journalist, butcher, prison guard, real estate agent, IT engineer, social worker, military person, truck driver, several farmers...
Most of them lived in a radius of 60 kilometers around Mazan. Six have previous convictions for domestic violence, and only two have previous convictions for sexual violence. Twenty-three have a record of minor offenses, such as drunk driving, drug possession or traffic violations. Some of them knew Giselle from before. The vast majority did not.
While testifying in court, some of them tried to address her personally and apologize. She turned her head when they spoke directly to her. The only moment when Giselle Pellico left the courtroom was when one of the rapists presented his defense and said: "If I wanted to rape someone, I wouldn't have chosen this 57-year-old (that's how old Giselle was when he raped her, cf. nov.) , I would find a beautiful woman".
VERDICT AND VICTORY
On September 14, 2024, feminist organizations organized protests in 30 areas across France to express solidarity with Giselle and other victims of sexual violence. In October, there were further protests in support of Giselle in Paris, Lyon and other French cities.
The trial raised the issue of consent in French law and the need to revise the criminal code, which currently defines rape as "any act of sexual penetration committed against another person by violence, coercion, threat or surprise", without mentioning consent.
On December 19, 2024, Dominic was convicted of aggravated rape and received the maximum sentence of 20 years. Of the remaining 50 co-accused, 49 were found guilty of aggravated rape, attempted rape or sexual assault on Giselle and sentenced to prison terms of 3 to 15 years. One man was found guilty of drugging and raping his own wife with Dominique, but was not charged with any wrongdoing against Giselle.
Speaking on December 19 after the trial, Giselle said: “When I started, I wanted to make sure that society really saw what was going on and I have never regretted this decision. Now I believe in our capacities to take on a future together in which everyone, women, men, can live together in harmony, in respect and mutual understanding".
Gisele's decision to renounce anonymity and hold the trial in public, as well as her dignified demeanor during the process, led to widespread public support. Every day she left court to the applause of people gathered outside, her image appeared in street art, and slogans of support were plastered on the walls around the courthouse. "It's time for shame to change sides", Gisele's sentence with which she renounced anonymity, became a slogan in many campaigns against sexual violence.
The Australian Older Women's Network, which raises awareness of sexual assault on older women, sent Giselle a scarf made by Aboriginal women, which she often wore in court. Through her lawyer, she said she was touched by the gift and the bond that unites women around the world to oppose violence against them.
This is how Gisele Pellicot became an icon of the women's movement and a symbol of the fight for the dignity of victims of sexual violence.
Gisele was included in the BBC's list of 100 women of 2024, and the Financial Times listed her as one of the 25 most influential women of 2024. After the verdict, supporters thanked Giselle for her courage and celebrated the sentence handed down to her husband. French President Emmanuel Macron thanked her for her "dignity and courage" while applauding foreign leaders such as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Ana Redondo García, Spain's Minister of Equality, announced the creation of a new reception center in the Asturias region for women victims of gender-based violence, which would bear Gisela's name.
Giselle herself, after the sentencing, said that she believes that the world is different and better since that day. And that's true. Giselle truly made the world a better place for women with her attitude, her decision to give up anonymity and her head held high. The only question is how long the world will be better after this. The fight for women's dignity teaches us that no battles are won forever. That's why we have to keep this one as long as we can. We owe so much to Giselle Pellicot, as people, as a society and as the best of all worlds.
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