Landmark Rape Case of Gisèle Pelicot: As Ex-Husband & 50 Men Are Sentenced, Will French Laws Change?

In France, sentences have been handed down in the trial of Dominique Pelicot and 51 other men convicted of rape against Pelicot’s ex-wife, Gisèle. Dominique Pelicot had repeatedly and systematically drugged and facilitated the rape of Gisèle Pelicot, approaching other men online to visit their home and assault her over a period of 10 years. Pelicot waived anonymity and fought for a public trial in the historic case, a decision that shaped the public discourse on sexual violence and the prevalence of chemical submission and drug-assisted sexual assault. “We were all here to wait for Gisèle, but also we were all here for one another,” says Diane de Vignemont, a French journalist who reported on the Pelicot trial and found a “sisterhood” that formed among women attendees to the trial, many of whom shared their own experiences with sexual assault.