The year 2024 ended on a significantly historical note in the French court house when on December 19th the verdict of Dominique Pelicot’s trial was pronounced along with that of his 50 co-accusers. Dominique Pelicot, 72, is charged with drugging and abusing his ex-wife Gisele Pelicot, and inviting numerous other men to abuse his then wife.
A family brutally shattered
It was on a Monday evening in November 2020 that Gisele Pelicot’s life, her three children’s were destroyed. Caroline Darian, her daughter remembers this November evening when she received the phone call from her mother that turned her life upside down “She announced to me that she discovered that morning that the man she spent 50 years of her life with, with whom she had 3 children, had been drugging her for about 10 years so that different men could rape her,” Ms Darian follows up “at that moment I lost what was a normal life. It was like an earthquake, a tsunami” she reveals.
One of France’s biggest trials started in a town in the south of France near Avignon, when Dominique Pelicot was initially caught in a supermarket filming under a couple of women’s skirts. The store’s security guard, horrified by Mr Pelicot’s actions, highly encouraged and even insisted the women file a complaint against the man. After the police put an order on his phone, they discovered with shock the phone is filled with photos and videos of a middle aged naked unconscious woman that was revealed to be Gisele Pelicot. The police also uncovered illicit photos of Dominique Pelicot’s daughter and daughters-in-law.
Over 50 men convicted at the trial
Struggling to cope with the idea of having been drugged and abused over 200 times by different men, Gisele Pelicot took the advice of her daughter and decided to hold a public trial. Along with Dominique Pelicot, 50 other men are also tried ranging from the ages of 22 to 70. Mrs Darian developed ‘They are a bunch of men, very well integrated in society, the typical suburban man, the guy next door. These men include journalists, craftsmen, and prison security guards.’ She continues ‘the amount of men under the age of 35 is particularly shocking. What does it say about our society? About the way our men are being educated?’ It only took 3 and a half months for the jury to pronounce their verdict, Joseph C., 69, received the lightest sentence: three years’ imprisonment, with two years suspended, for sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot, thereby avoiding time in prison. The heaviest sentence, fifteen years’ imprisonment, was handed to Romain V., 63, who traveled to Mazan on six occasions to rape Mrs. Pelicot. The public prosecutor had sought sentences ranging from ten to eighteen years for 49 of the accused. Dominique Pelicot, 72, was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment with a two-thirds security period. Caroline Darian shared ‘My father should die in prison’.
The new figure to an everlasting battle
The trial of the small town of Mazan became significant to numerous women and men who have also been victims like Gisele Pelicot, making her a symbolic figure against the fight against raping culture while giving voices and hope to those who have not found the courage in them to speak up against their tormentors, Mrs Pelicot shared ‘With this trial we want to encourage and give a voice to all the women but also to all the men still laying in the shadows who have been victims of sexual violence’. In a measured and dignified statement, Gisèle Pelicot also expressed her “respect” for the verdict and her “confidence” in the future. Now an icon of the feminist movement, she voiced solidarity with the “unrecognised victims” of sexual violence, adding that she envisions “a future where everyone—women and men—can live in harmony.” Some users on the internet even believe Mrs Pelicot deserves the peace nobel prize.
On the other hand, Caroline Darian published a book counting her story called And I stopped calling you dad while pursuing her battle against chemical submission and drug facilitated assault. Ms Darian continues to regularly deliver interviews and appear on tv sets making sure the world never forgets the important matters her mother’s trial highlighted and ensuring their story helps bringing changes to the issues of rape and sexual assault. There is no doubt that this trial out of this world will remain in French history and will keep having a major impact on the globe in the future.
