Who is Gisele Pelicot?
Gisele Pelicot is a 72-year-old French woman. She is in the news because her husband of 50 years, Dominique Pelicot, age 72, has been sentenced to a 20-year jail term, for secretly drugging her before violating her and inviting strangers to do the same.
What did Dominique Pelicot do?
In 2011 Dominique began drugging his wife, by mixing crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medications in her food and drinks.
Gisele began experiencing long periods of sleep and memory lapses but was unable to understand why this was happening. She thought she had Alzheimer’s or some similar neurological disorder.
For over 9 years, from 2011 to 2020, Dominique invited more than 70 strangers to rape and abuse his wife Gisele as she lay drugged and unconscious. He filmed all these encounters and shared them over the internet.
Dominique has also admitted to assaulting and attempting to rape a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1999.
A folder with pictures of his unconscious daughter, Caroline, dressed in unfamiliar lingerie was also found in his collection.
He has admitted to taking indecent pictures of his daughters-in-law with a hidden camera.
All this while Dominique was a caring husband to Gisele, taking her to the doctors when needed, preparing her meals and taking care of her.
How was Dominique Pelicot caught?
Dominique’s perversions went unnoticed until he was arrested and fined when he was caught filming an up-skirting video in a local market near Paris, in 2020. That led to a police investigation and subsequently a search of their house where the police came across his electronic devices holding proof of his depravity. He had filmed every single encounter of strangers violating his wife, neatly labeled them, and shared them over the internet. Dominique has rightfully earned the name given to him by the media – The Monster of Mazan.
Why is Gisele Pelicot being talked about?
What Gisele was put through is now known as the France Mass Rape Trial or the Mazan (a small town in France where Gisele and Dominique retired to in 2013) Mass Rape Trial. For the trial, Gisele chose to waive her right to anonymity and appeared in public and to the media. She says ‘she never regretted making the trial public so society could see what was happening’. For the trial that lasted 16 weeks, Gisele attended all the court hearings and testified as the court convicted 51 of the 70 men named.
Why are women all over the world thanking Gisele Pelicot?
It’s not for us to have shame, it’s for them – this single powerful sentence by Gisele had seen shame change sides. A woman who refused to be shamed and apologetic towards a crime that was committed against her, without her knowledge and by someone whom she was married to for 50 years.
Gisele’s courage and the dignity with which she has handled this horrific ordeal will hopefully give women all over the world the courage to understand that they should not allow themselves to be shamed for what was done to them.
When a woman is eve-teased or molested she is questioned about her conduct and what she was wearing. When she is violated, she is shamed and blamed. When a wrong is done to a woman she is made to feel it is her fault that it was done to her. For centuries women have been bearing the brunt of the consequences of terrible crimes done to them.
Women are repeatedly reminded that the ‘family honor’ relies on their conduct, behavior, and character. The fact that the violators are always men, often men known to the woman in question, is completely overlooked.
Gisele Pelicot chose not to be the victim or take the blame for what was done to her. She dismissed shame as it was not for her to feel it. I hope her actions will have a butterfly effect on women worldwide.
Merci beaucoup, Gisele. From women the world over. Your courage has shone the light on what was a dark path paved with blame and shame. We women hope to not stumble on it anymore.
