A protest against violence against women in Paris last month (Picture: Jeanne Menjoulet)
Gisele Pelicot left the court house on Thursday to tell supporters that she has “never regretted” the decision for her trial to be open to the public. Her decision led to the “trial of the century” and a chapter in the fight against sexual violence.
Dominique Pelicot was found guilty of all charges against him, including aggravated rape of his former wife Gisele.
He had drugged Gisele, invited other men to rape her unconscious body, and filmed the attacks over a period of nine years.
The mastermind of the attacks was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum under French law. All of the other 50 other men were found guilty—46 of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault.
In general the sentences are lower than the prosecutions asked for. Even when the world’s eyes are on the trial, rapists can still rely on a sexist state and its courts.
Romain Vandevelde raped Gisele six times—the prosecution asked for 18 years, he received 15. Jean-Pierre Marechal, who raped his own wife as well as Gisele and had reproduced Dominique Pelicot’s drug mix, was handed 12 years.
“I am outraged, we are talking about a man who was going to be a Pelicot mark 2. He was sentenced to 12 years. It is incomprehensible,” said Lea, an activist. “He should have received the same sentence as Dominique Pelicot.
“We are showing that raping a woman under chemical submission is not so serious.”
What is striking about the Pelicot case is not just the scale and scope of the horror. But it is the tenacity and bravery of Gisele.
A gruelling trial, lasting over three months, meant Gisele and her family listened to testimony and watched video evidence of her lifeless body being mercilessly attacked. “It is with profound emotion that I am here, the trial was a very difficult ordeal,” she told reporters outside the courtroom today.
“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.”
Gisele insisted that shame and blame belonged to her former husband and his accomplices—the case would not have had the same impact without that.
The case reveals a sexist society and state. Gisele was not his first vicim—and the cops missed at least one critical opportunity to stop him striking again.
Dominique Pelicot stands accused of raping and murdering a young woman in 1991 and an attempted rape in 1999. He first came to the attention of the cops when he was caught filming up women’s dresses in a supermarket in 2010. He was fined £83 and cops collected his DNA.
This DNA matched a trace of blood at the scene of an attempted rape in 1999. The match was not included in the case file, and police did nothing further until his arrest in 2020.
Dominique Pelicot has since admitted the crime. Yet in the decade after 2010, he was able to orchestrate violence against Gisele—and potentially other victims.
Outside the courtroom, protesters chanted, “Shame at justice,” and, “Thank you Gisele.
As soon as the verdicts were announced, the mask began to slip from the misogynists. For example, Joseph Cocco was found guilty of “aggravated sexual assault” and sentenced to one year in prison. But he walked free as his sentence was suspended.
His lawyer, Christophe Bruschi, taunted the crowd and threw sexist insults their way. He declared them “hysterical” and shouted, “Shut your mouth you piece of shit.”
Many of the rapists claimed ignorance that Gisele didn’t consent—but others admitted they thought it was Dominique Pelicot’s decision to make. One of them said, “She’s his wife, he does what he wants with his wife.”
Victims deserve justice. Handing out short and lenient prison sentences shows that sexual violence is not taken seriously.
Many of Gisele’s rapists, sentenced to 12 years, can expect to be released in just three. It is a damning indictment of the justice system that even when the facts appear clearly—and with such sympathetic reporting—rapists are given a slap on the wrist.
This trial took place in a deeply sexist society that teaches men that women are there to be owned and controlled. It sexualises women’s bodies and encourages the view that women are objects for men’s gratification.
And such sexist ideas reflect how oppression is ingrained in the system. So tackling violence against women means trying to create a society where it isn’t allowed to fester.
But the final word should of course go to Gisele. She told the crowd, “When I opened the doors to this trial on 2 September, 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.” She is right.
Strikers are demanding an unallocated €1.6 billion go towards workers' pay rise
Another day of mass resistance
