- French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot is rebuilding her life after years of secret abuse
- Pelicot was repeatedly drugged and raped by her husband, who also arranged for many other men to assault her
- Pelicot has chosen to recount her experience in her memoir, due for publication on February 17
French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot is rebuilding her life after years of secret abuse that culminated in a landmark trial, leaving France and the world stunned.
Pelicot was repeatedly drugged and raped by her husband, Dominique Pelicot, who also arranged for many other men to assault her while she was heavily sedated.
Police later found photographic and video evidence documenting assaults by at least 70 men.
The abuse is believed to have begun in 2011 but only came to light in 2020 after Dominique Pelicot was arrested for secretly filming women at a supermarket in southeastern France. Investigators then uncovered digital files revealing the scale of the crimes.
Four years later, the trial of the perpetrators began. Pelicot has since chosen to publicly identify herself and recount her experience in her memoir, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides, due for publication on February 17.
Speaking to The New York Times, she said, “When I wrote this book, I wanted it to be useful. It also allowed me to look inward, to take stock of my life and try to rebuild from the ruins. When you hear the facts of the trial, you see this woman and wonder, ‘How is she still standing?' I needed to convey that I'm still a woman who stands tall.”
Before learning of the abuse, Pelicot said she believed she was living a happy retirement after decades of work and raising her children. “I was living a fulfilling, happy life. I had this joie de vivre with Monsieur Pelicot.” She even recollected meeting her husband as teenagers in 1971 and building a life together.
The abuse escalated after the couple moved to southern France, where Pelicot began experiencing unexplained memory lapses. She later learned these coincided with the first recorded assault in July 2011.
Recalling one incident, she said, “I remember waking up in the night. I said to him, ‘What are you doing? Leave me alone.' And since I was sedated, I went back to sleep and woke up very late the next day.”
She said she initially trusted her husband completely, even when doctors misdiagnosed her symptoms. “Many people have asked, ‘How could she not have known?' But that's the reality. I trusted him so much that I couldn't imagine that this man was manipulating me.”
The scale of the abuse emerged only after police questioned her following her husband's arrest. Describing the moment officers showed her evidence, she said, “Do you recognise yourself in this photo? And of course I didn't recognise myself, because I was with a man I didn't know, who was raping me.”
Investigators later told her she had been raped around 200 times and that many suspects had been identified. “It took me almost five hours to absorb it, but I said the word ‘rape' to my friend at that moment,” she said.
Asked about seeing footage of the assaults, she said, “Devastating. It's as if I've come out of surgery, because I'm completely anesthetised. Fortunately for me, I have no memories, because I think I would have killed myself afterwards.”
French law allows sexual assault victims to remain anonymous during trials. Pelicot chose to waive that right. “I wanted a closed trial. I can assure you that I didn't flinch, not once. Until the very end, I held on. It takes guts. You have to be strong,” she said.
All defendants were eventually convicted. “For me, it was (justice). The sentence doesn't matter; what mattered to me was that they had been found guilty,” she said.
Since the trial, she has relocated, formed new friendships and begun a new relationship.
