Dozens of accused deny rape, despite video evidence showing unconscious Gisèle Pelicot snoring loudly
Taking the stand in France’s biggest ever rape trial, Patrice N, 55, an electrician from the southern town of Carpentras, said he was a “jovial” guy and a fun dad who once trained youth football teams and had a “great respect for women”.
He denied the charges of rape, claiming rape had never been his intention. “To my mind, it was a game,” he told the court.
Continue reading...Woman who was raped by her husband and allegedly abused by 50 other men says she is driven by ‘determination to change society’
Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman who has become a feminist hero for insisting that the rape trial of her ex-husband and 50 other men should be held in public, has told a court in southern France she was driven by her desire to change society and expose rape culture.
“I am a woman who is totally destroyed, and I don’t know how I’m going to rebuild myself. I’m 72 soon and I’m not sure my life will be long enough to recover from this,” said the former logistics manager, who was repeatedly unknowingly sedated and raped by her then husband, Dominique Pelicot, 71.
Continue reading...Woman at centre of France’s mass rape trial says ‘will and determination to change society’ is what keeps her going in face of evidence heard
Earlier this month the Guardian’s associate editor, Europe, Katherine Butler, spoke to Angelique Chrisafis about why this trial is so unusual and whether it might change French attitides to sexual violence.
Trials like this are normally held behind closed doors, away from the media, but this case is being heard in public because Gisèle Pelicot “wanted to draw attention to the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse,” Angelique said.
Continue reading...Women and men march in village where Pelicot’s husband is accused of drugging her and inviting men to assault her
A silent march took place in support of Gisèle Pelicot and other female victims of sexual violence on Saturday in Mazan, the village where Pelicot’s husband is accused of drugging her and inviting more than 80 men to assault her at their home.
Hundreds of women and men turned out in solidarity with the woman at the centre of a case that has shocked the world. Members of the Pelicot family did not attend but said they appreciated the public support.
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