France. Gisèle Pelicot, drugged and raped for a decade, testified in court. “I am a completely damaged woman”

The trial in a case that shocked not only the entire… Francebut also the world, began at the beginning of September in Avignon. Dominique Pelicot, 71, the ex-husband of 72-year-old Gisèle, is accused of giving his wife drugs for almost a decade between 2011 and 2020, then raping her and organizing rapes committed by dozens of other men. He pleaded guilty. In addition to him, 50 other perpetrators aged 26 to 74 are accused.

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On Wednesday, Gisèle Pelicot appeared in court to comment on the findings so far. Her ex-husband was also present. The woman began by recalling how a few years ago a man had been by her side when she started having health problems (which later turned out to be the result of long-term intoxication) and took her to doctors. “I told myself so many times how happy I was to have you with me,” she admitted, adding that the 71-year-old was someone she fully trusted and that they had been together for 50 years. – How could the perfect man for me do something like this?! How could you betray me so much?! How could you let these strangers into my bedroom?! – she asked.

The court asked her, among other things: about the circumstances in which her husband may have given her drugs and whether she recalls encouraging her to eat or drink specific things. – He cooked a lot, I saw it as caring. I remember when he picked me up from the station one evening after I had spent 10 days with my grandchildren. Dinner was already cooked, she mentioned. – He brought me ice cream in my favorite raspberry flavor to bed. I thought: how lucky I am, she said, pointing out that she never noticed anything suspicious, even though she woke up tired in the morning. But she assumed it was because of the long walks.

Today we know that it was through eating that the woman was intoxicated. – I had gynecological problems. Sometimes I woke up feeling like my water had broken. There were signs, but I didn't know how to read them, she admitted.

The woman noted that in recent weeks during the trial, the wives, mothers and sisters of the other defendants testified that their loved ones were “exceptional men.” – I had someone just like that at home. But a rapist isn't just someone you meet in a dark parking lot at night. It can also be in family, among friends, emphasized Pelicot. – I am a completely damaged woman and I don't know how I will recover from this – she added.

She also repeated that she did not want a closed-door trial because she hoped her case would help other rape victims. She turned to all the women who experienced it: – I want them to say that Pelicot managed it, so they can do it too. There is shame when you are raped, but it's not us who should be ashamed, it's them, she emphasized.

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Pelicot learned the truth about the sexual crimes she was a victim of only at the end of 2020, when she received a call to the police. Dominique Pelicot was caught because he was caught trying to film the intimate parts of women in one of the stores. When investigators began examining his electronic devices, they found rape scenes captured in photos and videos. The police then used them to track down the remaining men.

The 71-year-old recruited them online to harm his wife. Most of the accused plead not guilty. Some claim they were deceived because they did not know they were having sex with an intoxicated woman. Others claim that they were lured by her husband to a “playful threesome” and Dominique Pelicot allegedly told them that his wife was pretending to sleep because she was shy. Some argue that they had “permission from their husband” and decided that it was enough. Some of them believed that the woman agreed to give her drugs. Most of the rapes were recorded by the victim's husband.