Gisele Pelicot calls for an end to the ‘macho, patriarchal society where rape is trivialized’

Gisele Pelicot blasts her “cowardice” Dozens of men accused of abusing her during a decade-long gang rape by her husband While calling for an end to “the macho, patriarchal society where rape is trivialized.”

While her husband, Dominique Pelicot, admitted in court that he drugged his wife and invited strangers to their home to rape her while she was unconscious, most of the other 50 men on trial denied rape and verdicts will be announced around December 20. .

Gisele Pelicot, 72, only became aware of her ordeal when police came across videos and images her husband had recorded of the abuse he was accused of orchestrating.

“For me, this is a case of cowardice,” Gisele Pelicot said in court Tuesday. AvignonSouth FranceHe is in the courtroom for the third time with most of the defendants.

“Society needs to open its eyes to the fact that we live in a macho, patriarchal society where rape is trivialized.”

Reports that dozens of seemingly ordinary men, aged 26 to 74 and from all walks of life, may have raped an unconscious woman sparked fear, triggered protests and protests around the world. turned the hearing into an examination of the prevalence of sexual violencewith Gisele Pelicot becomes a feminist hero.

In the video recorded by her husband and shown in court in recent weeks, Gisele Pelicot is seen repeatedly being inactive, sometimes snoring, and some of the defendants harassing her at the family home in the town of Mazan in southern France.

Most of the defendants told the court that they did not realize they were raping her, did not intend to rape her, or placed all the blame on their husbands, who they said manipulated them.

Under French law, he could have asked for the hearing to be held behind closed doors. Instead, she wanted it to be done publicly and said she hoped it would help other women speak out and show that victims had nothing to be ashamed of.

“Rape is rape,” he said Tuesday. Addressing the defendant, he said: “When you enter the bedroom and see a motionless body, at what point do you decide not to react?” “Why didn’t you leave immediately to report the situation to the police?”

She said she would never forgive her husband.

On Monday, Pelicots’ two sons asked the court to punish him severely and also said they would never forgive him and that he died for them. Her sisters said she believed Dominique Pelicot also drugged and abused her.

Dominique Pelicot will speak in court later Tuesday. His lawyer, Beatrice Navarro, told reporters he was “very sorry.”

“He did what he did. There is no doubt about it. But we still need to point out that he is very lonely right now. “He will always be very lonely,” he said.