Gisele Pelicot criticizes male cowardice after her group rape

Gisele Pelicot criticizes male cowardice after her group rape

Gisele Pelicot denounced the cowardice of the numerous men on Tuesday, which she was over a period of ten years during a Mass exercise , organized by her husband. In her testimony before the court, she demanded fundamental changes in the patriarchal society of France.

confession of the husband

Dominique Pelicot, her husband, admitted in the court that his wife, 71, stunned and invited strangers to her house to rape her while she was passed out. Of the around 50 other men who are on trial, most have denied the allegations of rape.

a shocking confession

Gisele Pelicot only learned about her long suffering when the police came across videos and pictures that her husband had taken over from the attacks he had accused of. "For me this is the process of cowardice, there is no other way to describe it," said Gisele Pelicot, while many of the accused were present in the courtroom.

worldwide attention to sexual abuse

The procedure that is about the alleged rape of an unconscious woman through numerous ordinary men between the ages of 26 and 74 caused a sensation worldwide and transformed the procedure into a critical examination of everyday sexual violence.

manipulation and cowardice in society

In the past few weeks, a video has been shown several times in court that shows Gisele Pelicot motionless, sometimes snoring, while some of the accused abused them. Many defendants said in court that they did not know that they raped them or pushed the entire guilt on their husband, whom they represented as a manipulator.

A call to change

"It is time for society to question and change this machoist, patriarchal view of rape," said Gisele Pelicot in court. According to French law, it could have applied for the process to take place in public. Instead, she called for a public negotiation in the hope of encouraging other women, speaking and showing that victims do not have to be ashamed.

an appeal to the accused

"Rape is rape," she emphasized on Tuesday. "If you come into a bedroom and see a motionless body at what point (decide) not to react?" she turned to the accused. "Why didn't they go immediately to report it to the police?"

family conflicts and guilt awareness

She explained that she could never forgive her husband. On Monday, the two sons from Pelicot appealed to the court to punish her father strictly, and explained that they also would never be given and that he was dead for them. Her sister suspected that Dominique Pelicot also stunned and abused her.

legal assistance of the accused

Dominique Pelicot will come to mind later on Tuesday. His lawyer Beatrice Navarro told reporters that he was "very depressed". "He did what he did. There is no doubt about that. But we also have to state that he is very alone right now. He will always be very alone," she said.