French mass rape victim tells court she is 'broken' but determined

This court sketch created on October 10, 2024, shows Gisele Pelicot being applauded by the audience outside the courthouse of Avignon, during the trial of her former partner accused of drugging her for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan. [AFP]

Gisele Pelicot, whose ex-husband and dozens of other men are on trial in France accused of raping her while she was drugged, told the court Wednesday she was "broken" by her ordeal, but also determined to "change society" for sex assault victims.

The 71-year-old has become a feminist icon in France since the trial of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other men opened last month in the southern French city of Avignon.

The case has sparked horror, protests and a debate about male violence in French society, with the country keenly following the harrowing testimonies in court.

"I am a woman who is completely broken," Gisele Pelicot told the court in her second address to the court on Wednesday.

But she expressed her "determination to change this society" in terms of how it deals with sexual assault.

Gisele Pelicot insisted from the start that the trial should be open to the public to draw attention to the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

And she has encouraged other women who have been sexually assaulted to come forward.

"I wanted all women who are rape victims to say to themselves: 'Mrs Pelicot did it, so we can do it too'," she said.

"It's not us who should feel shame, but them (the perpetrators)", she said.

Gisele Pelicot addressed the court on Wednesday at the invitation of presiding judge Roger Arata, who asked for her "impressions" of the trial so far.

"I don't know how I'm going to rebuild myself," she said. "I'm 72 soon and I'm not sure my life will be long enough to recover from this."

'Immeasurable betrayal'

She then addressed her former husband who was sitting in the dock without looking at her, asking him to explain what made him drug her over almost a decade, rape her and enlist strangers to do the same.

"I'm trying to understand how my husband, who was the perfect man, became like this. How my life changed. How you could allow these people into our house knowing that I disliked swinging.

"For me, this betrayal is immeasurable. After 50 years together... I used to think I was going to be with this man until the end."

She added, looking steadily at her husband, who looked away: "I always tried to lift you higher. You plumbed the depths of the human soul, but unfortunately you made your own choices."

Her ex-husband, also 71, remained seated without any apparent reaction bar lowering his eyes.

His six other co-defendants whose cases are being studied by the court this week likewise stayed silent, surrounded by their counsels.

Gisele Pelicot, who was greeted with applause by the audience as she arrived Wednesday, has attended the trial most days.

In mid-September, she dropped her usual reserve to talk of her humiliation and her anger towards several lawyers who had made insinuations about her ordeal.

"A rape is a rape," she said.

Abuse on film

Dominique Pelicot filmed much of the abuse against his then-wife and also took meticulous records of the strangers visiting their home, which subsequently helped police uncover the crimes.

He has admitted to drugging her and inviting men to rape her between 2011 and 2020.

But he insists he is no different from the dozens of other men he recruited online to take part in the sexual abuse, alleging they all knew what they were signing up for.

Many of his co-defendants deny this, accusing him of manipulating them into raping his spouse of half a century.

Forty-nine other men are accused of raping or attempting to rape Gisele Pelicot -- with nearly none of them admitting guilt.

One has admitted to sedating his own spouse so that he and Dominique Pelicot could sexually assault her.

The trial is scheduled to last until December.