#gisèle pelicot

[cricketcat9]

Gisèle Pelicot, The Hero: “On why she was taking a stand in public, and how she keeps going. ‘I wanted all woman victims of rape - not just when they have been drugged, rape exists at all levels – I want those woman to say: Mrs Pelicot did it, we can do it too.When you’re raped there is shame, and it’s not for us to have shame – it’s for them. It’s true that I hear lots of women, and men, who say you’re very brave. I say it’s not bravery, it is will and determination to change society.’” - @guardian

[witchyirishgal]

“Shame must change sides.”

[warningsine]

A court on Thursday, December 19, sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in jail for committing and orchestrating the mass rapes of his now former wife Gisèle Pelicot with dozens of strangers. Her children expressed disappointment at what they saw as overly-lenient sentences for the other men convicted.

The convictions of all 51 defendants and their sentencing brought to a close a three-month trial that has horrified France, resonated across the world and turned Gisèle Pelicot into an icon of female courage.

Dominique Pelicot, who had already confessed to the crimes, was earlier found guilty by the court in the southern city of Avignon. His 50 co-defendants were also convicted by the court, with no acquittals. They received jail terms of between three and 15 years – less than what prosecutors had demanded. Two of these defendants had their prison terms suspended.

The three Pelicot children "are disappointed by these low sentences," said a family member, asking not to be identified, adding that there was "no question" of any of the children wanting to speak to their father after the conviction.

Tension was palpable in the courtroom at the start of the hearing, where a heavy police presence was deployed. Many defendants arrived with their bags packed ready for prison. One of them was in tears as he hugged his companion before entering the courtroom.

"Mr. Pelicot, you are found guilty of the aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot," said the presiding judge of the criminal court, Roger Arata. Delivering sentence, Arata said Dominique Pelicot will not be eligible for parole until he has served two-thirds of his sentence.

'Justice for Gisèle'

Dominique Pelicot, 72, has admitted to drugging Gisèle Pelicot for almost a decade so he and strangers he recruited online could rape her. His lawyer did not rule out appealing the verdict. "We're going to use the 10 days which we have to decide whether or not to appeal this decision," Béatrice Zavarro told reporters.

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, has become a feminist hero at home and abroad for refusing to be ashamed, waiving her right to a closed trial and standing up to her aggressors in court. Alongside her ex-husband, 50 other men aged 27 to 74 have been on trial, including one who did not abuse her but raped his own wife with Dominique Pelicot's help.

Earlier Thursday, Gisèle Pelicot arrived at the courthouse smiling and cheered by crowds of supporters and feminist activists waiting outside. They chanted her name and slogans like "Justice for Gisèle" and "Shame has Changed Sides".

On November 25, prosecutors requested the maximum sentence against Dominique Pelicot for aggravated rape. It was widely expected that Dominique Pelicot would receive the full 20-year term, but considerably more uncertainty had surrounded the sentencing of the other defendants. The prosecution had requested 10 to 18 years in prison against the 49 defendants also charged with aggravated rape. One of these accused is on the run and being tried in absentia.

One more accused – facing the lesser charge of groping – had risked up to four years in prison. Thirty-two of the accused attended the trial as free men while the others, including Dominique Pelicot, were remanded in custody.

'World is watching'

"Rape affects women all over the world, that's why the whole world has its eyes on what's going to happen," said Ghislaine Sainte Catherine, one of the members of the Amazons of Avignon feminist collective.

Gisèle Pelicot's children, David, Caroline and Florian, arrived half an hour earlier, entering the courtroom alongside a group of men accused of raping their mother. "We came with our things for prison," said one of the defendants, pointing to the sports bags on the ground.

The case has sparked protests and drew fresh attention to male violence in France. Rights activists hope that the trial will lead to change in society. "It's time that the macho, patriarchal society that trivializes rape changes," Gisèle Pelicot said in November.

Her pictures dominated the front pages of major French papers on Thursday. "A verdict for the future," said left-leaning Libération. "Merci madame," said L'Humanite, while La Provenance declared "the moment of truth."

[noxaeternaetc]

Gisèle, by La dame qui colle. Rue Saint-Maur, Paris, France

[myobsessionsspace]

India, France, Uganda, England…🗺️

It’s 2024 but it might as well be 1924, 1824…

For all the advancements we make on this earth…

When will women and children around the world be safe? Free from physical, mental and sexual abuse and violence? Allowed governance of their own bodies and the right to live in peace, free of fear and oppression. Allowed to be the girls and women they want to be?

**Please take care of your mental health. Please don’t read further, if triggered by violence against women and children, as below talks about the current state of the world**

Sudanese women & children

Thread

VAPPA Thread

[maaarine]

Gisèle Pelicot is the person of the year for Belgian magazine Knack: "the woman who gives courage to survivors of sexual violence"

[transparentgentlemenmarker]

[procelibacyactivism]

She had no idea that, in his late 50s and nearing retirement, her husband Dominique Pelicot had been spending a lot of time on the internet, often talking to users on open forums and chatrooms where sexual material – often extreme or illegal – was freely available.

In court, he would later pinpoint that phase as the trigger for his "perversion" after a childhood trauma of rape and abuse: "We become perverted when we find something that gives us the means: the internet."

oh my God he's blaming internet porn and csa for being a monster. women are by far the group most likely to have been sexually abused as children you don't see them do this shit. sadistic fuck ups always find a way to shift blame. Hope he gets what he deserves in prison. (I hope they don't segregate him)

[warningsine]

The curtain falls on the mass rape trial that shocked the world and saw Gisèle Pelicot emerge as a feminist hero.

After two and a half months of hearings, the Criminal Court in Avignon on Thursday found 51 defendants guilty of the rape, attempted rape and sexual assault of Gisèle Pelicot. The majority of defendants were handed prison terms of three-to-15 years – less than the four-to-18 years demanded by the prosecution.

Gisèle Pelicot’s ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, received the heaviest sentence of 20 years in prison for drugging his wife and inviting strangers he met online to rape her for nearly a decade. He received a two-thirds minimum sentence period, meaning he won't be eligible to ask for early release until at least two-thirds of his sentence has been served.

Dominique Pelicot's lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, who said she would consider an appeal, described her client as “stunned”. But she also expressed hope that Gisèle Pelicot would find solace in the rulings.

“I wanted Mrs. Pelicot to be able to emerge from these hearings in peace, and I think that the verdicts will contribute to this relief for Mrs. Pelicot," she said.

‘Here, we judge; we do not legislate’

The shortest prison sentences were handed to two defendants, known to the media as Joseph C. and Saiffedine G., who both received three years in prison with two years suspended for aggravated sexual assault. Saiffedine G.’s crime was reclassified as sexual assault in the verdict. 

Another defendant, Hassan O., who fled to Morocco and never appeared in court, was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison.

Around 40 of the defendants went straight from the courtroom to prison but others will not be incarcerated straight away.

The defendants have 10 days to appeal the judgment.

Overall the punishments handed down were less severe than those requested by the public prosecutor, who at the end of November called for sentences of four to 18 years for the majority of defendants and the maximum penalty of 20 years of criminal imprisonment for Dominique Pelicot.

Many of the defendants received 12-year prison sentences – slightly longer than the average sentence for rape of 11.1 years in 2022 according to the ministry of justice.

“The sentences were adjusted, and that's a good thing,” said Roland Marbillot, a lawyer for two of the defendants.

“One of my clients won't be incarcerated right away; the other will but will likely be released in a few weeks or months."

Marbillot added: "I would like to remind everyone that here we judge; we do not legislate," noting that it was a good thing that “the debate on consent did not dominate this trial”.

The mass rape trial has reignited the debate about the absence of consent as a legal criterion for rape in France.

France’s criminal code currently defines rape as a sexual act committed "by violence, coercion, threat or surprise", with no notion of whether or not consent is necessary.

At the end of September, the outgoing Minister of Justice Didier Migaud expressed his support for including consent in the French Penal Code.

‘I think of all the unrecognised victims’

Gisèle Pelicot and her lawyers arrived at the courthouse shortly after 9am, surrounded by a swarm of cameras. Her three children, Caroline, Florian, and David, were also present with their spouses.

Inside the courtroom, the red-haired septuagenarian, dressed in a blue striped shirt, nodded as the sentences were announced.

After the hearing, Gisèle Pelicot declined to answer questions but read a statement in which she thanked her loved ones: “I think of my three children. I also think of my grandchildren, who are the future, and it is also for them that I am fighting this battle.”

She also paid tribute to the “other families affected by this tragedy” and other victims of sexual assault. To “the unrecognised victims whose stories remain in the shadows… we share the same fight," she said.

Gisèle Pelicot did not comment on individual sentences but she said she respected the court’s verdict and did not regret her decision to make the trial public, in order to raise awareness about the use of drugs to enable sexual assault.

“By opening the doors to this trial, I wanted society to engage with the debates, and I have never regretted it,” she said.

‘Shame on justice’

Outside the courtroom supporters of Gisèle Pelicot gathered to hear the verdicts, which many felt were too lenient. Several chanted “Shame on justice!” and “Justice is complicit!” after they were announced.

"Feminists and women feel humiliated, disappointed and angry that the courts have handed down extremely low sentences,” said Blandine Deverlanges, president of the feminist collective Les Amazones d'Avignon. “Tonight, dozens of men will be going home and it's really unbearable to think that these men will be able to spend Christmas with their families."

Feminist groups are planning to protest at 1pm on Friday over the verdict, which they believe does not reflect the gravity of the crimes against Gisèle Pelicot.

“The question we're asking ourselves is whether women will continue to have confidence in the justice system,” Deverlanges said. “Personally, I'm beginning to despair and I think that women are going to start organising themselves to deliver justice.”

A lawyer for one of the defendants, Christophe Bruschi, was jostled and jeered by more than 100 feminist protesters, whom he referred to as “knitters”.

Throughout the trial, tensions between the defence and some feminist groups ran high, with lawyers accusing the groups of trying to influence the judges. Three weeks earlier, city officials removed a banner reading “20 years for all”, hung on the ramparts opposite the courthouse.

For the final day of the sprawling 15-week trial, which has seen scores of defendants take the stand, the courts implemented exceptional security measures, with nearly 200 police officers and gendarmes securing the courthouse in Avignon. 

In an indication of how the trial has captured global attention, there were also four broadcast rooms for journalists and the public.

At around 1:30pm a cheer rose up as Gisèle Pelicot left the courthouse under heavy police escort.

Women outside the courtroom chanted “Thank you, Gisèle!” as she slowly made her way through the crowds

[phobsstreetart]

Collage-Mural of Gisèle Pelicot in Lille, Northern France, done by street artist LaDame Quicolle.

[politikwatch]

Wie kann eine Frau im Jahr 2024 in Frankreich (und nicht nur in Frankreich!) mindestens zehn Jahre lang das erlitten haben, was #GisèlePelicot zugefügt wurde?

[warningsine]

They are young, old, burly, thin, black and white. Among them are firefighters, lorry drivers, soldiers, security guards, a journalist and a DJ.

These are the 50 men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot at the behest of her husband, Dominique Pelicot, 72, who drugged her for a decade with prescription sleeping pills.

The fact they broadly represent a microcosm of French society means they have been dubbed Monsieur-Tout-Le-Monde (Mr Everyman).

Next week they are due to be sentenced, at the end of a trial that started in September. If found guilty, collectively they face more than 600 years in jail.

A few of them act defiant, but they mostly look down as they answer questions from the judges, looking up occasionally to catch their lawyers' eyes for reassurance.

Warning: You may find some of the details of this story disturbing

Most of the 50 all come from towns and villages in a 50km (30-mile) radius of the Pelicots' own village of Mazan.

Some defence lawyers have seen in their ordinariness a valuable line of defence. "Ordinary people do extraordinary things," said Antoine Minier, a lawyer representing three defendants.

"I think almost everybody could end up in a situation - well, maybe not exactly like this one - but could be susceptible to committing a serious crime," he told the BBC.

'My body raped her, but my brain didn't'

Prosecutors have based their sentencing demands to the court on aggravating factors. How many times the defendants came to the Pelicot home, whether they touched Gisèle Pelicot sexually, and if they penetrated her.

Joseph C, 69, a retired sports coach and doting grandfather, faces four years in jail for sexual assault if found guilty. That is the most lenient sentence requested by prosecutors.

At the other end of the scale, is Romain V, 63, who faces 18 years in prison. He was knowingly HIV-positive and is accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot on six separate occasions without wearing protection - although his lawyer told the court he had treatment for several years and couldn't have transmitted the virus.

Prosecutors have been able to go into this level of detail because, unusually for a rape trial, there is a staggering amount of evidence, as the alleged assaults were filmed over almost a decade by Dominique Pelicot.

He has admitted all the charges against him and has told the court all 50 of his co-accused are guilty too.

All the video evidence means none of the men have been able to deny they ever went to the Pelicots' home. But the majority vehemently contest the charges of aggravated rape that would incur hefty sentences.

France's rape law defines rape as any sexual act committed by "violence, coercion, threat or surprise"; it has no reference to any need for consent.

Therefore, they also argue they cannot be guilty of rape because they were unaware Gisèle Pelicot was not in a position to give her consent.

"There can be no crime without the intention to commit it," said one defence lawyer.

"My body raped her, but my brain didn't," insisted volunteer firefighter Christian L, in an example of the convoluted reasoning offered by some of the men.

The one man of the 50 who is not accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot is Jean-Pierre M, 63, who has been dubbed Dominique Pelicot's "disciple".

Having learned how to drug his wife in order to abuse her, he did so for five years and admits it.

He blames his crimes on meeting Dominique Pelicot, who he says was "reassuring, like a cousin". Prosecutors are seeking a 17-year jail term.

'Manipulated and tricked by Pelicot'

Ahmed T, a 54-year-old plumber who has been married to his childhood sweetheart for 30 years, said that if had he wanted to rape someone, he would have not chosen a woman in her 60s.

Redouane A, an unemployed man aged 40, argued that if he had set out to rape Gisèle he would not have allowed her husband to take videos.

Some also say they were intimidated by Dominique Pelicot, who one lawyer told the BBC, was an "abominable character".

In tears, male nurse Redouan E told the courtroom he was too scared of him to leave the bedroom. "Maybe you can't tell from the videos, but I was really terrified!" he told judges.

Others maintain they were offered drinks that were spiked with drugs and therefore cannot remember the encounter, although Dominique Pelicot has denied ever doing this.

The majority, however, maintain they were manipulated or tricked by Dominique Pelicot, who convinced them they were taking part in a sex game with a consensual couple.

"They were put in a situation where they were scammed," Christophe Bruschi, Joseph C's lawyer, told the BBC. "They were taken for a ride."

But Dominique Pelicot has always said he made it abundantly clear to the men that his wife was not aware of the plot.

He gave them instructions to avoid waking her up or leaving traces that they had been there – such as warming their hands before touching his wife, or not smelling of perfume or cigarettes, he said.

"They all knew, they cannot deny it."

Families scrambling for answers

Since September, the 50 men have appeared, one after the other, in front of the court in Avignon.

Usually in rape cases character investigations can take several days.

In this trial, because of the sheer number of defendants involved, they have been condensed into a few hours at most. Their lives have been dissected at record speed, often turning the court session into a litany of stories of abuse and trauma.

Simoné M, a 43-year-old construction worker, said he was raped when he was 11 by a family friend who employed him to look after cattle in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia.

Father-of-four Jean-Luc L, 46, told the court how he and his family had left Vietnam on a dinghy when he was a child and lived in a refugee camp in Thailand for several years before moving to France.

Fabien S, a 39-year-old man with several previous convictions including drug dealing and sexual assault of a minor, was abused and beaten by foster parents from a very young age. Like several others, he said he only realised during psychiatrist appointments ordered by the court that his hazy, painful childhood memories actually constituted rape.

Many wives, partners and family members of the defendants were called up to give character statements. They, too, scrambled for answers as they sought to understand how the men in their lives could have ended up "caught up in this kind of situation", as one woman put it.

"I was shocked, it doesn't sound like him at all. He was the joy of my life," said the elderly father of Christian L.

The firefighter is also being investigated for possessing child abuse imagery, as are four others, and faces 16 years in jail. "Something must have happened, he must have become depressed," his father wondered aloud.

'I will always be there for him'

Corinne, the ex-wife of 54-year-old Thierry Pa, a former builder, said he had always been "kind" and "respectful" to her and their children and appeared to leave the door open for a reconciliation him.

"When they told me what he was accused of I said: 'never, that's impossible... I don't understand what he's doing here at all.'" She believed it was the death of their 18-year-old son that had led her ex-husband to fall into a deep depression, start drinking and eventually make contact with Dominique Pelicot.

"I will always be there for him, whatever happens," said the ex-girlfriend of Guyana-born Joan K. At 27, he is the youngest of the defendants and a former soldier in the French army.

He has denied raping Gisèle Pelicot on two occasions. While he knew she would be unconscious, he said he had not realised she had not given her consent.

In floods of tears, a woman called Samira said she has spent the last three and a half years "looking for answers" as to why Jérôme V had gone to the Pelicots' six times.

"We had daily intercourse, I don't understand why he had to go look elsewhere," she sobbed. She is still in a relationship with Jérôme V, who was working at a greengrocer's at the time of his arrest.

He is one of the few who have admitted to raping Gisèle, saying he liked the idea of having "free rein" over her – but blamed it however on his "uncontrollable sexuality".

Gisèle Pelicot: They raped me in full conscience

Many former and current partners of the defendants have undergone tests to see if they too had been drugged like Gisèle. One woman said she would "always have a terrible doubt" that the "respectful, thoughtful, sweet man" she knew had abused her too without her knowledge.

Since the start of the trial, much has been made of the need to find an element that ties all these men together.

A common denominator – beside the fact that all the men went to the Pelicots' of their own free will - "remains nowhere to be found," Gisèle's own lawyers have said.

But there is one factor all the defendants indisputably have in common: they all made the conscious choice not to go to the police.

Firefighter Jacques C, 73, said he had considered it but "then life just carried on", while electrician Patrice N, 55, said he "didn't want to waste the whole day at the police station".

In the early days of the trial, Gisèle Pelicot was asked whether she thought it was legitimate to think the men had been manipulated by her husband.

She shook her head: "They didn't rape me with a gun to their heads. They raped me in full conscience."

Almost as an afterthought, she asked: "Why didn't they go to the police? Even an anonymous phone call could have saved my life."

"But not one did," she said after a pause. "Not a single one of them."

[procelibacyactivism]