In the past few weeks, she has heard from dozens of wives, mothers and sisters of partners on the witness stand – all of whom have praised the perpetrators as “extraordinary people” who will never believe they were responsible for the crimes. She had exactly such a man in her house – “but a rapist is not someone you meet in a dark parking lot. They are in the family and circle of friends.
“I’ve told myself so many times that I’m so lucky to have you by my side,” Pellicott told her ex-husband, following her remarks from the dock. He would have stood by her when she thought she was having neurological problems – which turned out to be the result of years of drugging her. She always trusted him implicitly. “How can a perfect man be like this? How could you have deceived me like this? How can I bring these strangers into my bedroom?”
“We are not the ones to be ashamed of”
The details she learned in the last days of the trial devastated her too – “I don’t know how I can pull myself together again”. Her goal is to become a role model for other rape victims: “Ms Pelicott did it, we can do it too” – “but we’re not people to be ashamed of.”
Hours before Gisele Pelicot’s testimony, an accomplice’s wife was called as a witness. She was shocked and saddened to learn of his actions. “But since I rejected him at the time, I think he should look elsewhere as a man.” Gisele Pelicot’s lawyer, Stephane Babonneau, dismissed the account: “This is what happened to Gisele Pelicot. It is never a wife’s duty to sleep with her husband. You have no responsibility that your husband chose to do what he did.
Public hearing cautioning women
Pélicot, 72, has now become a feminist icon in France. He explained to the court that he opposed the closed-door hearing to face the unknown victims of rape while under the influence of knockout drops and other drugs.
“I speak for all the women who are addicted and don’t know, and I do it in the name of all the women who never know.” She “lost ten years of my life” because of her husband’s crimes. That I won’t come back.” Pelicott declined to be named anonymously.
He faces up to 20 years in prison
Her ex-husband Dominique Pélicott admitted to raping his wife over the years by repeatedly giving her sleeping pills. Investigators found nearly 4,000 photos and videos of the crimes on the main defendant’s hard drives, USB sticks and computers. Based on the records, authorities identified a total of 200 rapes between 2011 and 2020.
Most of them were committed by her husband, in 92 cases other men were the perpetrators, and 54 of the 74 men were identified. One died, and charges against two others were dropped. The defendant openly offered to rape his wife on internet forums. He took photos and videos without asking men for money. In addition to the husband, 50 accused must stand trial and face up to 20 years in prison.
The co-defendants denied the allegations
In the last few days of the trial, several co-defendants denied the rape allegations. Some said they thought the woman was pretending to sleep. Another described herself as a “victim” of Dominique Pélicott and insisted she acted out of fear of him.
Another suspected that he too had been drugged because he had no recollection. On the other hand, Dominique Pélicot emphasized several times: “They all know about it.” Several photographs and videos of Dominique Pélicott’s crimes were shown to the court for the first time. There was an “abuse” folder on her hard drive, along with several subfolders labeled with other men’s nicknames.
For the first time, the audience had to leave the hall, but the journalists were able to stay. The Chief Justice later decided that journalists should not see the pictures either. Gisele and Dominique Pélicot, lawyers for both sides, objected to this.
Discovered by accident
The misconduct was discovered after Dominique Pélicot came under scrutiny for filming up women’s skirts in a shopping centre. During the investigation, investigators found photos and videos.
The couple’s two sons and daughter appeared as co-plaintiffs. The daughter left the courtroom in tears as the chief justice explained that the accused had also stored nude photographs of her own daughter. A verdict is expected in December.
