Paris (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A French court in Avignon handed a 20-year prison sentence to Gisèle Pelicot’s ex-husband for drugging and raping her for nearly over ten years. The court also convicted 49 other men whom he invited to assault her. All received prison sentences. The trial has become a milestone in the struggle against sexual violence.
The Ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot has received a 20-year imprisonment sentence from a French court in Avignon for doping and repeatedly raping her for nearly ten years. More recently, the court convicted 49 other men who were invited by her ex-husband to commit assaults against her and sentenced them to imprisonment as well. This is an international case that is becoming a landmark case in the fight against sexual violence.
Pelicot, who has been honoured for her bravery during the trial, demanded that she be identified and that her proceedings be broadcast. Her bravery has turned her into a symbol of the international fight against sexual violence.
Presiding judge Roger Arata pronounced the verdicts for the fifty men convicted of rape or sexual assault. Their sentences ranged from three to fifteen years in prison, with two suspended sentences. Still, Pelicot’s family said they were not satisfied with the relatively light punishments.
“The children are disappointed by these low sentences,”
a family member, who preferred to remain anonymous, said in a statement to AFP.
Pelicot came to court in a show of support from crowds holding signs that read, “Thank you for your courage.” Accompanied by her daughters, she sat silently in the courtroom as the verdicts were read.
The trial began in September and brought Pelicot to face her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, along with other accused men. Despite the trauma she went through, she demanded that the court view video evidence of assaults, which were taken when she was unconscious, and shot by her ex-husband.
Dominique Pelicot was convicted of attempted aggravated rape over Cillia, one of the co-defendants’s wives, and for getting indecent images of his daughter and daughters-in-law. It was a very emotional moment in court, except his.
This took place between 2011 and 2020 when the police found thousands of images and videos where men sexually assaulted Dominique Pelicot’s computer. Some of the men claimed they believed the unconscious woman consented or that her husband’s approval sufficed.
Throughout the trial, Pelicot remained resolute in her commitment to stand up for victims of sexual violence. “It’s not for us to feel shame, it’s for them” Pelicot said in court. Her attorney, Stéphane Babonneau noted that Pelicot felt a sense of responsibility, recognizing that many victims face their abusers alone, ‘’without the public support she received.”
Pelicot’s Case Sparks Debate Over French Consent Laws
Pelicot case has been a provoking incident for protests throughout France to call for amendments to the sexual consent law of the country. A law in 2021 sets age 15 as the threshold to enter consent but the law still does not address consent for older victims. According to the law of France, rape convictions are almost impossible, due to the proof requirements which include violence and threats coupled with an intent to commit the act. The conviction ratio of rape accusations has revealed that only 14 % get formal investigations.