After three months of a trial that has shaken up France, Dominique Pelicot has been charged with aggravated rape for drugging his then wife Gisèle Pelicot and inviting 50 men to rape her in her home over almost a decade. He has been sentenced with twenty years in prison, the maximum possible under French law.

All 50 men on trial alongside him were found guilty of rapes and sexual assaults, with sentences going from three years to twenty years in prison.

Following the verdict, Gisèle Pelicot read from a prepared statement while outside the courtroom: “It is with profound emotion that I am here, the trial was a very difficult ordeal.” She added that she was thinking of her children and grandchildren “because they are the future, it is also for them that I took on this battle.

“I’m also thinking of the many victims who are not recognised, whose stories often remain in the shadows. I want you to know that we share the same battle.”

“When I opened the doors to this trial on 2 September,” she concluded, “I wanted society to be able to take part in this debate. I have never regretted that decision.

“I have confidence in our ability to collectively grasp a future in which everyone, women and men alike, can live in harmony, with mutual respect and understanding.”

The Front féministe international, an umbrella group of 85 feminist collectives that span eight countries, commented on the verdict by calling it “historic.”

“In a country where only 10% of victims of sexual violence lodge a complaint and where 94% of these complaints are dismissed,” the statement reads, “in a country where rapists enjoy virtual impunity, this verdict is historic.”

“Shame has changed sides,” it added. “Thank you, Gisèle Pelicot!”

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said it “welcomes the verdict in the Gisèle Pelicot case”, saying that they “salute” Gisèle “as the exceptional person she is and celebrate not just her victory, but the enduring legacy it will have beyond the courtroom.”

“The case sickened people around the globe and opened up conversations about the meaning of consent,” they continued, “the staggering number of willing participants and the dehumanisation of victims. It also underscored fears amongst women that nowhere is safe, even your own home. Gisèle Pelicot was was raped for a decade in her own bed by scores of men, their only connection being their desire to sexually assault an unconscious woman.

“While people in Ireland may think that Gisèle Pelicot’s case is unusual and unique, there are aspects that are all too common here too. From our work in the area of sexual consent, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre knows that there is still a long way to go before it is fully understood and practiced by everyone here.”

 

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However, Gisèle Pelicot’s children shared that they were “disappointed” by the verdict. Indeed, while Dominique Pelicot received the maximum sentence, most of the men trialed alongside him received sentences that were lower than those demanded by the state prosecutor.

Outside the courtroom, the crowd who came to support Gisèle Pelicot shouted that the French judicial system was “complicit,” and should be “ashamed,” with a protester admitting to Franceinfo that she was “disgusted” by the lower sentences.