Gisèle Pelicot has develop into a global feminist icon in 2024 by transforming her horrific personal story into a public battle against rape culture.
On December 19, 2024, her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, was sentenced for orchestrating dozens of rapes committed against her by various men over nearly a decade. The trial shocked France and prompted a national reckoning with the systemic problem of sexual violence.
Fifty men were found guilty of rape or sexual assault that day.
Outside the court in southern France, where her attackers were convicted and sentenced, Pelicot stated: “The shame needs to change sides.”
That phrase became a rallying cry that helped shift the narrative around sexual violence in France and in other countries.
With the release of her new memoir, “A Hymn to Life: Shame Must Change Sides,” scheduled for next week, 73-year-aged Pelicot is speaking out and revealing details she had previously shared only in court. On Wednesday, February 11, she gave her first televised interview since the trial to France 5 public television.
Here are key takeaways from the interview:
The Moment She Learned She Had Been Raped
Pelicot described the shock she felt when police contacted her and revealed the bombshell news that her husband, with whom she had been married for 50 years, had been mixing sleeping pills into her food and drink, and then inviting strangers to rape her while filming the crimes.
“I don’t recognize myself in those photos,” she said about the images investigators showed her. “I said, ‘That’s not me.’ Then I put on my glasses and there was that lifeless woman with a man she didn’t understand in bed. I feel my brain collapsed.”
Warning Signs
Looking back, Pelicot said there were warning signs, but at the time she didn’t allow herself to confront them.
She remembers noticing a yellow stain on a pair of pants shortly after she and Dominique Pelicot moved to the village of Mazan in southern France. “I asked him if he might be drugging me, and then he started to cry. Was it my subconscious? I don’t know.”
Another incident involved a white beer that appeared to change color after Dominique Pelicot added what he claimed was peppermint syrup. When she questioned him, he poured the contents down the sink. “At the time, I didn’t think anything of it,” she said.
Visiting Dominique Pelicot
Despite the harrowing experience Pelicot endured, she said she still intends to visit her ex-husband in prison as part of her “healing process.”
During the trial, she said she never addressed him directly. Now, she wants to “glance him straight in the eye and ask, ‘Why did you do this?’”
Her view of their 50 years of marriage is complex. While she described feelings of betrayal and outrage, she said she still wants to preserve the happy memories, because they are all she has left of that life.
Estranged Children
Pelicot’s interview provided an opportunity to address the fissures that have formed in her family since the revelations. She said it is wrong to think that “a tragedy brings a family together.” Her relationship with her daughter, Caroline, is slowly recovering, but her son, David, “needs more time,” she stated.
“I chose to live with Mr. Pelicot,” she explained. “They didn’t choose the father, so they are in a different situation, and I think the journey will be longer.”
New Partner
Pelicot never imagined she would fall in love again, nor did she even wish for it. However, in 2023, she met a man she identified only as Jean-Loup. “Meeting him was incredible,” she said. “I met a man who had also gone through difficult times, and that changed our lives.”
The case of Gisèle Pelicot has sparked a national conversation in France about sexual assault and consent, leading to legal reforms. The trial, which concluded in Avignon in December 2024, saw Dominique Pelicot sentenced to the maximum 20-year prison term, along with convictions for 49 other men involved in the abuse. The story highlights the devastating impact of drug-facilitated sexual assault and the courage of survivors who come forward to seek justice.
