Gisèle Pelicot

Gisèle Pelicot (born 7 December 1952) is a French woman who was the victim of the Mazan mass rape case. From 2011 to 2020, her then-husband, Dominique Pelicot, covertly drugged and raped her and also invited at least 83 men he had contacted, mostly through an unmoderated French website, to rape her while she was unconscious. Pelicot only became aware of the abuse in 2020, when Dominique Pelicot was arrested for upskirting women in a local supermarket and a police search of his computer equipment revealed images of her being raped.

Gisèle Pelicot
Born	(1952-12-07) 7 December 1952 Villingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Occupation	Logistics manager
Known for	Survivor of the Mazan rapes
Spouse(s)	Dominique Pelicot ​ ​ (m. 1973; div. 2001)​ ​ ​ (m. 2007; div. 2024)​
Children	3

When Dominique Pelicot and fifty other men went on trial for aggravated rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault in Avignon in 2024, Pelicot waived her right to anonymity and a trial behind closed doors. The trial attracted worldwide media attention, and Pelicot's dignity and determination to speak out on behalf of all victims of sexual assault won her widespread support and admiration. She became a feminist icon and featured in the BBC's 2024 list of 100 women of the year and the Financial Times list of the 25 most influential women of the year. In December 2024, 50 of the 51 men on trial, including Dominique Pelicot, were convicted of raping, attempting to rape, and sexually assaulting Pelicot, with her former husband receiving the maximum 20-year sentence, and the other convicted men receiving between 3 and 15-year sentences. The 51st man was convicted of raping his own wife.

Background

Born on 7 December 1952 in Villingen in southwest Germany, Pelicot was the daughter of a French soldier. She arrived in France when she was five and her mother died of cancer when she was nine. In 1971, she met her future husband, Dominique Pelicot. They married in April 1973 and settled in the Paris suburb of Villiers-sur-Marne. A son, David, and a daughter, Caroline, were born in the early years of the marriage; they were followed by Florian, born in 1986.

Pelicot had a career in administration for the state electricity company. Her husband worked as an electrician and an estate agent and set up a number of businesses which ultimately failed. Pelicot had a three-year affair with a colleague. When her husband discovered the affair, he moved in with another woman for several months before the couple were reconciled and resumed their life together. In 2001, the couple divorced for financial reasons. They continued to cohabit and remarried in 2007.

On retirement in 2013, Pelicot and her husband moved to Mazan in southeastern France, renting a house with a swimming pool. Pelicot joined a choir, while her husband did a lot of cycling. In the summer holidays they were joined by their children and grandchildren.

Abuse and discovery

Main article: Mazan rapes

While the couple were still living in the Paris area, Pelicot was prescribed Temesta (lorazepam), a benzodiazepine. Her husband took advantage of her drugged state to rape her while she was asleep. He began to add sleeping pills obtained from his own doctor to her food and drink to render her unconscious. It was after the couple moved to Mazan that he invited men he had contacted on the internet to rape her while she was drugged. Pelicot was completely unaware of what was happening to her. When she suffered memory lapses due to the drugs, she worried that she might have Alzheimer's disease or a brain tumour but tests always came back negative. She had suspicions and on one occasion asked her husband if he was drugging her, but accepted his denial. It was only after her husband was arrested for upskirting women in a local supermarket in September 2020 and police discovered images of an unconscious Pelicot being raped by her husband and at least 83 other men on the computer equipment they seized from the couple's home, that the truth emerged. Pelicot recalled the day, 2 November 2020, when they were called into the police station and she was shown videos of her abuse: "Everything caved in, everything I built for 50 years". Dominique Pelicot was remanded in custody. Pelicot moved out of the family home and initiated divorce proceedings; she did not see her former husband again until his trial in September 2024. The divorce was finalised just before the trial.

Trial

The trial of Pelicot's husband and 50 other men who had been identified from the computer images began in Avignon in September 2024. As a rape victim, Pelicot had the right to anonymity and the right to a trial behind closed doors, but waived her right to anonymity and insisted on a public trial in order to raise awareness of drug-facilitated sexual assault (chemical submission) and encourage other victims of sexual crimes to speak out. She successfully challenged the judge's initial decision to exclude the public from court when videos of her being raped were shown. "The shame is theirs" she said, referring to the men accused of raping her. "I'm lucky to have the evidence. I have the proof, which is very rare. So, I have to go through [all this] to stand for all the victims," she said of the videos.

On 19 December 2024, Pelicot's former husband was convicted of aggravated rape and given the maximum 20-year sentence. Forty-nine co-defendants were found guilty of aggravated rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault and sentenced to between three and fifteen years imprisonment. A fiftieth was found guilty of drugging and raping his own wife.

Speaking on 19 December after the trial, Pelicot stated: "I wanted when I started on 2 September to ensure that society could actually see what was happening and I never have regretted this decision. I now have faith in our capacity collectively to take hold of a future in which everybody, women, men, can live together in harmony, in respect and mutual understanding."

Recognition and impact

Pelicot's decision to waive her anonymity and to have her trial held in public, as well as her dignified demeanour during the trial, led to widespread admiration and public support for her, both in France and worldwide. She left court each day to applause from people gathered outside, her image appeared in street art, and supportive slogans were pasted on walls around the courthouse. She received messages from women from all over the world. Speaking on her behalf, her lawyer said: "It's something that has really touched her and shows this connection that unites all women." An Australian organisation, the Australian Older Women’s Network, which raises awareness about sexual assaults against older women, sent Pelicot a scarf made by First Nations women, which she wore frequently to court. Speaking through her lawyer, she said that she had been touched by the gift and the connection uniting women across the world in standing up to violence against them. Demonstrations were held in her support, and she became a feminist icon.

Pelicot was included on the BBC's 2024 list of 100 women, and was cited as one of the 25 most influential women of 2024 by the Financial Times.

After the verdict was handed down, supporters thanked her for her bravery and cheered the sentence handed down to her husband. She was thanked by French President Emanuel Macron for her "dignity and courage", and also applauded by foreign leaders such as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as well as the international press.

Ana Redondo García, Spanish minister for equality, announced the creation of new reception centre in the Asturias region for women victims of gender-based violence, which would carry Pelicot's name.