Shocking rape trial sheds light on systematic struggle of French victims of sexual abuse

AVIGNON, France — The trial of dozens of men accused of raping an unconscious woman after her husband repeatedly drugged her over a period of nearly a decade has highlighted the difficulties victims of sexual violence can face in France.

Dominique Pelicot, 71, and his 50 co-defendants face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty in a trial that has shocked the world and captivated the French public.

Pelicot tearfully admitted in court that he was guilty of the charges against him. He said all of his co-defendants knew exactly what they were doing when he invited them to his home in Provence between 2011 and 2020 to have sex with his unconscious and unsuspecting wife, who divorced him after learning what he had done to her.

Despite evidence, including meticulously archived photos and videos Pelicot took of the alleged rapes, some lawyers for the accused have scrutinized Gisèle Pelicot's personal life and motives, even questioning whether she was truly unconscious during some of the encounters. Despite having to defend their clients to the best of their ability, the lawyers' tactics have outraged advocates for sexually abused victims, who say the lawyers show that victim blaming is still widespread in France.

“This trial is the trial of our society,” said 27-year-old Nathan Paris, who works in a youth home, outside the courthouse in Avignon this week. Paris, himself a victim of sexual violence, has traveled from Marseille several times since the trial began.

“The French population has evolved … and I have the impression that the justice system has not evolved during this time,” he said, vowing to keep coming back until the end of the trial.

The co-defendants are aged between 20 and 70 and represent a cross-section of French men: there is a fireman, a journalist, a nurse, a prison guard and a construction worker. Some are retired, others are unemployed and many have families of their own. One knew he had HIV when he raped Gisèle Pelicot six times and did not use a condom, according to police. She did not contract HIV, although she has been diagnosed with other sexually transmitted diseases, a medical expert testified.

Magali Lafourcade, a judge and secretary general of the National Advisory Commission for Human Rights who is not involved in the case, said the fight against sexual violence in France had improved slightly since the start of the #MeToo movement, which has brought down some of France's best-known actors and film directors, among others. Women have always spoken, but their voices are now being heard more, she said.

“For a very long time, we viewed the rape and killing of women by men as something that belonged in the private sphere – we thought we should not interfere in people's private lives,” Lafourcade said.

“Since #MeToo, this perception has changed significantly, even revolutionized,” she added.

Citizens' initiatives have lobbied intensively in recent years to ensure that judges, politicians and the media understand that sexual violence is not only a private matter, but also a social, political and financial one, said Lafourcade.

French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to prioritize gender equality and combat violence against women, but France's policies are lagging behind and more resources and efforts need to be put into prosecuting sex offenders, experts told The Associated Press.

Lawyers and analysts agree that the Pelicot trial is in many ways a sure-fire success due to the abundance of highly incriminating evidence and the main defendant's admission of guilt.

Gisèle Pelicot also contradicts the stereotype widespread in French society that women who are raped may have provoked their attackers by trying to attract male attention or by being careless. She is a grandmother in her 70s who, according to police, was drugged and unconscious during each attack.

“Most victims don't have that,” says Celine Piques, spokesperson for the feminist group Osez le Féminisme! (Dare Feminism!). She stresses that 90% of women who say they have been raped do not report it because they see no chance. “In most cases, the victims' statements are questioned and the shame falls on them and not on the man who committed the rape.”

Piques said she was particularly shocked by the questions about Gisèle Pelicot's sex life, including “whether she was into swinging or threesomes when this woman was drugged and unconscious.”

Gisèle Pelicot has displayed remarkable calm and composure during the trial, even during the most gruesome and explicit descriptions of the abuse she suffered. But on Wednesday she became angry when defense lawyers questioned her about the graphic images taken of her, shown in court for the first time. She had agreed to their publication because she hoped they would serve as “irrefutable evidence.”

“I understand why rape victims don't report it,” Pelicot told the five judges after a lawyer asked her if she was hiding unusual sexual “tendencies.”

“I will not even answer that question, which I find offensive,” she replied, her voice breaking.

She told the court that the first two weeks of the trial had been harrowing: “Ever since I stood in this courtroom, I have felt humiliated. I am being treated like an alcoholic, like an accomplice. … I have heard everything.”

Pelicot has become a symbol in the fight against sexual violence in France. Many victims see her as a hero because she gave up her anonymity, made the trial public and openly faced the media. She attended every day of the trial and sat in a room full of men who were accused of raping her.

But despite the sickening details that emerged during the trial, that did not stop some from downplaying the abuse. Mazan, the mayor of the small community where the Pelicots lived, apologized on Thursday for suggesting in a BBC interview that things could have been worse because “there were no children involved” and “nobody died.”

Such disregard is widespread in the French justice system, said Lafourcade.

“We have a real problem with the way the justice system handles sexual assault, which is very painful for victims and has a chilling effect,” she said. “It deters people from reporting.”

Given the small number of reported cases and the small number of reported cases that result in a conviction, only a tiny fraction of offenders actually end up in prison, says Lafourcade.

“And to reduce a crime, it's not the severity of the sentence that matters,” she added. “It's the fact that you're certain you won't get caught.”

Pelicot's supporters believe she is making a difference by bravely confronting men accused of rape, and that broader change is on the horizon.

“In the past, we would never have questioned a lawyer and his defense strategy,” says Paris, who works at the youth home. “But today society is changing, people are watching what is happening and are taking into account the suffering of others.”