Latest news with #GisèlePelicot
New York Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Pelicot Trial Returns, This Time to the Stage
The buzz of this year's Avignon Festival was a play set inside a medieval convent, not far from the courthouse where six months ago Gisèle Pelicot confronted her ex-husband and dozens of men accused of raping her while she was deeply drugged. The play had a simple name: 'The Pelicot Trial.' By the French playwright Servane Dècle and the Swiss director Milo Rau, it promised to distill into four hours the four-month trial that rocked France. All 51 defendants in the case were found guilty, most on charges of rape. The case jolted the country into difficult questions around the pervasiveness of rape, the widespread use of pharmaceuticals to drug women and commit abuse, and the uncomfortably familiar face of rapists who are also fathers, uncles, brothers, neighbors. The playwright, Ms. Dècle, told French radio that the work was taking up the demand by Ms. Pelicot, who had waived her right to a closed-door trial and insisted that the videos of the hundreds of rapes she suffered, all of which were filmed and cataloged by her husband, be played publicly in court, to 'look rape straight in the eyes.' As on most days of the trial, a line had formed outside the building where the stage was set, led by women looking for last-minute tickets to the show, which played one night at the festival but is being staged elsewhere. Some said they had come to witness how the director would meld the case into art, and to process their own personal stories of sexual violence. Two women near the front were in tears. 'I think men felt protected before. They let things slide,' said one woman in line, Nathalie Le Meur, a 54-year-old art therapist. 'Because of this trial, they realize they could potentially end up in court.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Express Tribune
14-07-2025
- Express Tribune
Gisèle Pelicot receives France's highest civilian honor for bravery
Gisèle Pelicot, a 72-year-old French woman known for her courageous courtroom testimony, has been awarded France's highest civilian honor, the Legion of Honour. She was named to the Bastille Day honors list, announced ahead of the national holiday, joining 589 other recipients. Pelicot earned international recognition last year after waiving her legal right to anonymity and publicly testifying against her husband, Dominique Pelicot, in a mass-rape case. In court, Dominique admitted to drugging his wife and arranging for around 50 men to rape her while she was unconscious over the span of nearly a decade. The trial concluded in December 2024 with Dominique Pelicot receiving the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for aggravated rape. Throughout the trial, Gisèle Pelicot attended nearly every session, becoming a symbol of resilience and bravery. Speaking to reporters during the proceedings, she said, 'I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can too.' She added that she hoped to 'make shame swap sides,' shifting the stigma from victim to perpetrator. French President Emmanuel Macron publicly praised Pelicot, calling her a trailblazer whose 'dignity and courage moved and inspired France and the world.' According to her lawyer, a memoir telling Pelicot's story in her own words is currently in development and is expected to be published early next year. The award underscores not only Pelicot's personal bravery but also her lasting impact on the national conversation around sexual violence and victims' rights in France.
West Australian
14-07-2025
- West Australian
Gisèle Pelicot receives France's highest honour
Gisèle Pelicot, who became a symbol for women's rights in France during the rape trial against her ex-husband and dozens of accomplices, has received France's highest civic honour. Pelicot was named knight of the Legion of Honour on a list published in the official gazette on Sunday. Pelicot's ex-husband was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the end of last year for aggravated rape, in a landmark case that horrified France and the world and reignited the debate on criminal legislation on sexual violence. Dominique Pelicot repeatedly drugged his then-wife, abused her and offered her to dozens of strangers to rape over a period of almost 10 years. A court in the southern French city of Avignon also sentenced 50 co-defendants in December to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years. Gisèle Pelicot had insisted that the trial be held in public to ensure that rape and the abuse of women became the focus of public debate far beyond France.
Perth Now
14-07-2025
- Perth Now
Gisèle Pelicot receives France's highest honour
Gisèle Pelicot, who became a symbol for women's rights in France during the rape trial against her ex-husband and dozens of accomplices, has received France's highest civic honour. Pelicot was named knight of the Legion of Honour on a list published in the official gazette on Sunday. Pelicot's ex-husband was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the end of last year for aggravated rape, in a landmark case that horrified France and the world and reignited the debate on criminal legislation on sexual violence. Dominique Pelicot repeatedly drugged his then-wife, abused her and offered her to dozens of strangers to rape over a period of almost 10 years. A court in the southern French city of Avignon also sentenced 50 co-defendants in December to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years. Gisèle Pelicot had insisted that the trial be held in public to ensure that rape and the abuse of women became the focus of public debate far beyond France.
RNZ News
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Feminist icon Gisèle Pelicot, rapper Pharrell Williams awarded France's top civic honour
Gisèle Pelicot leaves the courthouse after hearing the verdict of the court that sentenced her ex-husband to the maximum term of 20 years jail for committing and orchestrating her mass rapes with dozens of strangers he recruited online, in Avignon on December 19, 2024. Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP Gisèle Pelicot, who became a feminist icon by publicly testifying over the mass rapes she endured, and rapper-turned-fashion designer Pharrell Williams were among 589 people awarded France's top civic honour on Sunday. Pelicot, 72, and Williams were both named knights of the Legion of Honour on a list announced ahead of France's July 14 national day. Pelicot earned international tributes for her courage in testifying at a trial in 2024 against her former husband, who drugged her and arranged for her to be raped by dozens of men over a decade. She has since been named on lists of the world's most influential people by international media and the case helped forced a change in France's rape law. But Pelicot has remained silent since the trial. Her lawyer says she is concentrating on writing a book giving her side of the mass rape story which is to be released in 2026. Williams, 52, made his name as a rapper and singer but earned a second fortune as a music producer and after designing clothes and accessories for several brands. He has been Louis Vuitton's men's creative director since 2023. Rapper-turned-fashion designer Pharrell Williams. Photo: AFP His recent Paris show attracted a host of international celebrities, including Jay Z and Beyonce, film directors Steve McQueen and Spike Lee and football and basketball stars. Actor Lea Drucker, veteran singer Sylvie Vartan, writer Marc Levy and Auschwitz deportee Yvette Levy, 99, were also among the figures awarded the Legion of Honour along with a host of former ministers, academics and top legal names. - AFP
