In Avignon, a city in southern France, banners supporting Gisele Pelicot hang along the streets. Women have held several demonstrations nationwide to show solidarity with her.
The strength and demeanor Pelicot has shown during her rape trial have made her a national symbol of courage and grace. Dozens of women applaud every day as she makes her way to the courthouse in southern Avignon.
Pelicot’s husband, Dominique, is currently on trial with 50 other men for raping her while she was unconscious. The husband has admitted to drugging her, raping her, allowing more than 80 men to rape her while she was comatose and filming the abuse over a decade. The men, aged 26 to 74, include firefighters, electricians and journalists.
It is a trial that could inspire societal change, especially since Pelicot has waived her right to anonymity and insisted on a public trial, which is exceptional in France for rape cases.
How Pelicot’s rape case has inspired hope
That has allowed Justine to follow each day of the Pelicot trial from Paris. Justine, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, tells DW that she is also a victim of a so-called chemical submission, rape in which drugs make the victim unconscious.
Three years ago, a female acquaintance drugged Justine and forced her to have sex with the acquaintance and a man. She says the woman filmed the abuse and asked her for €20,000 ($21,800) to delete the videos.
When Justine didn’t pay up, the woman sent the videos to some of her friends and neighbors. She still doesn’t feel safe enough to speak out using her real name, but watching Pelicot has given her new hope.
“Gisele is a shining light exposing a dark side of society that some are trying to hide. We need to follow her lead. She stands for the power of speaking out,” Justine tells DW.
Justine’s lawyer filed rape charges after the police had refused to even file a complaint, but her case has yet to go to trial.
“I am absolutely devastated by what’s happened to me. I have to live with this abuse every day. I go to bed with it, and nightmares of it wake me up,” she says.
“But Gisele has given me the courage to return to court, where they told me my case was on hold. I will not give up until they take it up again.”
The Pelicot case has caused many in France, feminists and lawmakers alike, to raise questions on toxic masculinity and the definition of rape, particularly whether France should revise the definition of consent from not saying “no” to actively saying “yes.”
French law currently defines rape as a sexual act committed “by violence, coercion, threat or surprise” but has no explicit reference regarding the need to obtain consent. However, “chemical submission” falls under “aggravated rape,” which can result in a prison sentence of up to 15 years. Rape claims have a statute of limitation of 20 years.
Though specific figures regarding chemical submission don’t exist, general statistics on rape charges in France show that they rarely result in a conviction. According to a study by the Institute of Public Policy (IPP), a Paris-based think tank, 94% of reported cases were dropped between 2012 and 2021.
‘XXL #MeToo movement’ in France?
Anne, 63, is convinced the Pelicot case will inspire many in France and abroad. “This is an XXL #MeToo moment,” Anne tells DW, referencing the social media hashtag actor and activist Alyssa Milano created in 2017 to raise awareness for sexual abuse.
A graffiti portrait of Pelicot has been shared and printed thousands of times. The motto “shame must change sides,” uttered by Pelicot’s attorney when the trial began, has become a battle cry for feminist women.
Anne herself was a victim of chemical submission, drugged and raped as a child by her father, who also filmed the sexual abuse. She cannot speak out using her real name for legal reasons, even though her case occurred in the 1970s and thus is outside the statute of limitation.
“Gisele shows such dignity and elegance that she isn’t tarnished by all the harm and abuse she has suffered and which is being exposed in court,” Anne says.
“She has become a role model for many survivors of rape who, like myself in the past, feel ashamed about the abuse they suffered, as if it were their fault.”
Anne thinks the trial also highlights that chemical submission doesn’t only take place at parties and nightclubs.
“It often happens in families, and we should all be aware of that to be able to recognize the warning signs, such as recurrent headaches and lapses of memory,” she says.
More specific training on chemical submission
Arnaud Gallais, a French author and activist, says lawyers also need to do some soul-searching. He’s the co-founder, together with Gisele Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian, of the help group Don’t Put Me To Sleep (M’Endors Pas).
“Gisele is being subjected to what the European Court of Human Rights has called secondary victimization. Certain defense lawyers are causing her additional trauma by saying things like she gave her consent — while she was unconscious or snoring!” Gallais tells DW.
His organization has filed a formal complaint with the chair of the Lawyers Association and, if necessary, intends to go all the way to the European Court of Justice to establish stricter rules for French lawyers.
And Gallais is hoping for change on another level.
“We need a specific law on chemical submission that restructures certain areas of public life that include systematic training for the police and doctors and information campaigns for the public,” he says.
Indeed, specific training on chemical submission hardly exists for police, confirms Jean-Christophe Couvy, national secretary at police union Unite.
“Courses on sexual violence form part of our basic training, but only a few specialized police officers get access to classes on chemical submission,” he tells DW.
“These classes should be accessible to all of us, also so that we’re up to date as to which are drugs being used.”
‘By helping others, I am helping myself’
Meanwhile, Justine, a trained psychologist, has found her way of keeping her head above water while also helping other survivors.
“I realized that hypnosis and trauma therapy were helping me a lot, so I learned how to give such therapy sessions to my patients, many of whom have been sexually abused, ” she says.
“By helping them heal, I’m healing myself.”
She also hopes that victims will one day no longer feel alone. “Through [Pelicot’s] court case, something has started that cannot be stopped. I hope that, in the future, the police will have to follow up on our complaints systematically, and the courts will have to consider them.”
Meanwhile, the government has decided to revive a parliamentary commission on chemical submission, which could propose an amendment to the law. Anne is hoping that that could lead to the statute of limitations being lifted in cases of sexual abuse, especially when it comes to minors.
“My father is still alive. He should be held responsible for what he did to me,” she says.
“I hope he’s watching this court case and trembling with fear of what it could mean for him.”
This article was originally written in German.
