A fearless Gisèle Pelicot is ready to face her rapists in the courtroom again as her fight is far from over, her lawyer has told The Independent.
After the 72-year-old’s now-ex-husband and 50 other men were convicted of raping or sexually assaulting her in a trial that horrified the world last year, 17 defendants launched appeals, five of whom have now dropped their cases, leaving 12 outstanding.
“She’s ready,” Stéphane Babonneau, the lawyer who has been by her side throughout this ordeal said. “She’s not scared at all. She said, ‘Of course I will be there every day’… This is her fight, her fight is in the courtroom.”
The grandmother was the epitome of dignity, courage and strength as she sat across from her ex Dominique Pelicot in the courtroom in Avignon, France, every day of the gruelling three-month trial, after he had drugged her and invited other men to join him in unfathomable sexual abuse over the course of a decade.
Ms Pelicot, who has become a symbol of the struggle against sexual violence, chose to waive her anonymity, embodying her powerful message that it is the perpetrators, not the victims, who should feel shame for sexual crimes.
Now, her lawyer says she faces a fresh one-a-half-month trial in October – but her bravery and resolve in her mission remain unwavering.
Mr Babonneau described the upcoming trial, which is set to be held in front of a jury this time, as Ms Pelicot’s current priority. He said she is doing “fine” and spending the time in the retiree village in France where she now lives to preserve her energy in preparation for another battle, even turning down an opportunity to address to the EU parliament.
Her “life was destroyed in a second” on 2 November 2020 when the husband who she had sat down for breakfast with that morning was arrested over upskirting allegations and police then discovered 20,000 images and videos of 71 men having sex with her on his devices. It turned out her lifelong partner, who she had previously described as a “super guy”, had been recruiting complete strangers in an online chatroom to rape his wife while she was unconscious, with the lawyer saying the doctor who later examined her finding it was a “miracle” she did not die.
More than four years later, Ms Pelicot is still fighting, but Mr Babonneau said she told him it could never be worse then that day. “If I can survive that then I can survive anything,” he said she told him.
It was not until the summer of 2024 that she could finally bring herself to sit down and watch those videos, said Mr Babonneau, who cited then as the moment when she decided a closed hearing, which is standard for trials involving sexual offences, was not an option.
He said she did feel ashamed and was afraid of being judged – “because anyone would say ‘how stupid could you be?’” and because her body would be exposed when the videos were screened in court, with her fears especially surrounding her stomach and snoring. But she overpowered these feelings and told him: “Anonymity in this case is protecting my rapists.”
Frequently using the word “humble” to describe his client, with whom he has developed a “tough bond”, the lawyer said: “She never asked for attention or admiration – she felt a responsibility… She felt she was not doing that for her but for all the victims… [And her case] triggered something in the entire world.”
Each day, scores of women queued outside Avignon’s Palais de Justice to applaud Ms Pelicot as she entered, while she has been flooded with messages of support from every corner of the globe, with Mr Babonneau describing her overwhelming gratitude for the women who lifted her up as being the predominant feeling she has been left with in the wake of the trial.
Mr Babonneau recalled the “symbolic” moment when a “glowing” and “respected” Ms Pelicot arrived at the courtroom, while the men who had sexually abused her cowered behind masks and hoods as they hurriedly shuffled in. He said she turned to him and said: “Wow, the shame has switched sides.”
This was a statement that would become the slogan of her case, as she stood up in court and told the world: “It’s not for us to have shame – it’s for them.”
Her lawyer said she would tell him: “I want future victims to think, ‘If Mrs Pelicot can do it, I could do it.’”
After feeling a profound sense of loneliness at the start of the trial, he said she would also say: “I want to tell all the victims ‘look around you, you are not alone’.”
By the end – after a panel of professional judges found 47 of the men guilty of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault, and jailed them all for a total of 428 years in December – Ms Pelciot was far from alone as she was met with cheering crowds who were chanting “Merci Gisèle” when she emerged from the hearing.
She addressed her supporters outside the courtroom. “I now have confidence in our ability to collectively seize a future in which each woman and man can live in harmony with respect and mutual understanding,” she said, telling them she never regretted making the decision to hold her trial in public.
However, for now – and until a “hopeful” book her lawyer said she is contemplating writing after all criminal proceedings are over – Mr Babonneau said: “She thinks, ‘Everyone has seen me enough – it’s time for me to take a step back, and for society to grab the moment,’” in a call for action, although she struggles to see herself as an activist, let alone the inspiration that the world would call her.
He added: “Thats what’s remarkable about Gisèle – she always looks ahead to the future. Of course she doesn’t forget what happened, but she doesn’t want to get stuck in the past.”
