Mass rape trial exposes France's disturbing culture of sexual assault, critics say

WARNING: The content of the following story may be disturbing to some readers.

A gang rape trial in France has brought to light what many call a “rape culture” rampant in the country.

“Today I claim that I am a rapist, just like the other men here,” said 71-year-old Dominique Pélicot at a court hearing on Tuesday. “You knew everything. You cannot claim otherwise.”

Gisèle Pélicot, 72, claimed her husband drugged her and allowed dozens of men to sexually abuse her over nearly a decade between 2011 and 2020, when the couple lived in the small town of Mazan. Dominique Pélicot admitted the crime and filmed the assaults.

His decision to forgo anonymity during the trial is unprecedented and has surprised many, but he remains convinced that he must face up to his crimes.

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“You are not born a pervert. You become a pervert,” he told the court, claiming he was raped by a hospital nurse at age nine and then forced to take part in a gang rape at age 14.

“All I remember from my youth are shocks and traumas, some of which I have forgotten thanks to her. She didn't deserve this, I admit that,” he said of his wife. If convicted, Dominique Pélicot faces 20 years in prison.

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He is now on trial along with around 50 other men whom the authorities identified and arrested by comparing the data provided by Dominique Pélicot. Many of them deny the charges against them.

Dominique Pélicot's testimony attracted media attention due to the shocking nature of his crime. He spoke for an hour while confined to a wheelchair due to health complications from a kidney stone and a urinary tract infection.

According to French law, the court proceedings may not be filmed or photographed. Dominique Pélicot enters and leaves the courtroom through a special entrance that is inaccessible to the media, as he and several other defendants remain in custody during the trial.

The other defendants, however, claim that they were manipulated by their husband or believed that she had consented to the act.

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Dominique Pélicot first came into conflict with the police when they caught him taking photos of women's crotches in a supermarket. An investigation uncovered thousands of images and videos showing the assaults on his wife.

The couple remained married for 50 years until the attacks came to light and the police divided the media with Gisèle Pélicot describing the revelation as “unbearable”. The couple had three children together.

“For me, everything collapses,” said Gisèle Pélicot. “These are scenes of barbarism, of rape.”

French authorities have identified a total of around 72 men involved in the ten-year-long rape plot. They range in age from 26 to 68 and come from a variety of backgrounds, including firefighters, journalists and pharmacists, according to the BBC.

The Fondation des Femmes told NBC News that the trial was “a symbol of the worst that male violence can do.” The crimes against Gisèle Pélicot were “barbaric” and her decision to testify publicly was courageous.

“I am not speaking for myself, but for all women who suffer from chemical oppression,” said Gisèle Pélicot during her testimony.

Céline Piques of the group Osez le Féminisme argues that this case contradicts the narrative of the “rapist who is a psychopath” who “raped because he was sure of his impurity”.

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Piques pointed to the website through which Dominique Pélicot invited men to his home, which had over 500,000 visitors a month last year, noting: “100 percent of these people … never called to stop this abuse.”

“Not a single man thought of informing the police about these criminal facts,” Piques said.

Jasmine Baehr of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.