The French woman Gisèle Pelicot was raped by her husband and strange men for years – while she was unconscious. The case is unique in its brutality. It has the potential to be a new #MeToo moment.
The fact that Gisèle Pelicot went public resulted in many people showing solidarity with her.
The case of the Frenchwoman Gisèle Pelicot has shaken up France, Europe and the world in recent months. Pelicot, 72, was offered sex online by her husband for ten years. She was repeatedly sedated with sedatives and raped by at least eighty men.
The trial in Avignon stretched over three months, and Pelicot spent more than fifty days in court. And was accompanied by the public. They had expressly requested this after a public hearing. Shame should change sides, she often said. It's not the victims who should be ashamed, but rather the perpetrators.
Now, just before Christmas, this memorable process is coming to an end. The court will announce the verdicts on Thursday and Friday. The public prosecutor's office has demanded up to 20 years in prison for the 51 defendants.
And now the question arises: What remains of the Pelicot case? What remains when the TV crews leave Avignon and the perpetrators are locked up? What remains when everyday life slowly pushes this incomprehensible story aside? The Pelicot case is unique in its brutality, a monstrous exception. And yet it provides important insights.
The private made public
In 2017, the Harvey Weinstein case sparked the #MeToo movement worldwide. The result was stricter laws and a rethinking of society. Women finally gained the courage to denounce sexism. Large parts of society have finally become aware of the issue of sexual violence. Since then, rape cases have regularly been debated publicly and covered in the media. The perpetrators are the most famous men: the film producer Harvey Weinstein, the musician Sean “Diddy” Combs, the football player Dani Alves, the actor Gérard Depardieu. But lawsuits against celebrities cloud the view of a problem that affects all classes, nationalities and religions.
The true extent of sexual violence goes unnoticed because rape trials against unknown people are held behind closed doors. The victims are ashamed and remain anonymous to protect themselves. So do the perpetrators. And that is what is special about the Avignon trial: the public is given a rare insight into the causes of sexual violence in everyday life.
Dominique and Gisèle Pelicot lived in Mazan, a village in the province of southern France. They were married for fifty years, had three children and a quiet life. Gisèle Pelicot says she loved her husband and that he was a good husband. A “super guy”.
The co-accused men also led quiet lives and had unspectacular jobs and families. And yet they raped an unconscious woman, for fun, for adventure, for sexual greed, for the feeling of power. One of the men told the court he did it “out of curiosity.”
The Pelicot case completely shatters the belief that rape is always an exception. He shows what people have actually known for a long time. The perpetrators come from the middle of society and often even come from the victims' environment. A rapist is not recognizable as such. Even if you've been married to him for fifty years.
It is also because of this knowledge that the Pelicot case is particularly close to the public. And therein lies the potential of the case. It can become a new #MeToo moment and change society.
In France, there is increasing talk about sexual violence as a result of the trial. Rallies for Gisèle Pelicot are taking place in the cities. According to a survey by the opinion research institute Ifop, 80 percent of French people are of the opinion that the case should be an opportunity for everyone to take part in the fight against sexual violence. Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who has since resigned, announced additional measures to protect victims of abuse. Stricter sexual criminal law is to be discussed in the National Assembly.
German evidence is rare
There is another reason why the trial was able to have such impact in public: there are not numerous victims who collectively denounce a powerful man. It is a single woman who speaks out in court against 51 men. The victim shows courage, the perpetrators appear small and weak with their ridiculous excuses.
The vast majority of men deny “knowingly” raping Gisèle Pelicot. They hadn't realized that Pelicot was unconscious. They were manipulated. Or she had thought it was a role play by the couple. The perpetrators continued to make excuses even as the explicit videos of the rape recorded by Pelicot's ex-husband were played.
The crimes were discovered by chance: Pelicot's ex-husband had filmed a woman up her skirt in a supermarket and was reported. During the investigation, the police found the videos of the rapes, meticulously labeled and archived. A report was not necessary. The matter was clear. Such clear evidence is very rare.
Gisèle Pelicot said in court that she went public to encourage other women.
In most cases of rape, the situation is different. Victims must tell intimate details about themselves and the incident during questioning and in the courtroom. They will be retraumatized. The main aim of rape trials is to find evidence to support the woman's allegations. Statement is often pitted against statement, and finding the truth is extremely difficult.
In addition, the focus in the process is often on the behavior of the women. If their lifestyle is not absolutely blameless, it is easy to say that the women's behavior encouraged the crime.
In a rape case in Basel, the court president was irritating during the oral verdict when she said that the woman had “played with fire” because, according to eyewitnesses, she had had consensual sex with another man in the toilet of a club before the rape. The perpetrator also observed this. In doing so, the court insinuated, the woman had signaled her willingness to have further sex. According to the principle: If you say yes to one, you say yes to all.
In a rape case in Chur, a judge recently wanted to know from the woman whether she could have pressed her legs together more to avoid being raped. The defense argued that the woman was a “femme fatale” who was no longer able to put out the fire she started.
Lack of evidence, fear and shame discourage women from even reporting rape or sexual assault. In France, nine out of ten victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault do not press charges. This was the result of a comprehensive survey conducted by the authorities among French women between the ages of 18 and 74. A clear majority of cases that are reported are dropped from justice due to lack of evidence. The problem is also widespread in Switzerland and Germany.
In the Avignon trial, the defense also tried to present the situation as if Gisèle Pelicot had wanted sex. Pelicot was questioned about her habits, her sex life and whether she was truly unconscious. Pelicot said in court that she now understands why rape victims so rarely come forward.
Pelicot wanted to counteract this fear among women. They wanted shame to change sides. She achieved this goal with her courageous appearance in public.
Average woman from a middle-class background
Pelicot's face was featured on the front pages of newspapers, she appeared in the news, photos and videos of her walking into the Avignon court alongside her lawyers were everywhere. Pelicot did this confidently, decisively, thoughtfully, elegantly dressed and with a smile on his face. This made her appear strong and approachable.
In addition, Pelicot is the term for the average woman from the bourgeois milieu. This made it easy for the public to show solidarity with her, to feel empathy, to understand her perspective. Pelicot made it clear that any woman can become a victim, no matter what she looks like, how she acts, where she is and how old she is. And with her presence at the trial, she was an example that women do not have to be ashamed if they have been raped.
But even though she walked upright into the courtroom every single day of the trial, the perpetrators were verbally reprimanded and called cowards. She said she didn't know how she would ever get over what happened. “I am a completely destroyed woman.”
Pelicot deserves the approval of society. She has decisively brought the #MeToo movement into the heart of society. But her great courage, her dignified appearance in court, the uniqueness of her case: none of this should be a prerequisite for a woman to be believed.
With the Pelicot case, shame has changed sides. And it will stay that way.
During the Pelicot trial, protests and demonstrations of solidarity took place in French cities – here in Paris.
