Macron thanks Gisèle Pelicot for courage and dignity in mass rape trial

French President Emmanuel Macron has honoured Gisèle Pelicot for her remarkable strength during the mass rape trial involving her ex-husband and 50 other men. He praised her as a pioneer for women, stating that her “dignity and courage moved and inspired both France and the world.”

Her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, 72, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape after admitting to drugging her for nearly a decade and coercing dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious in bed.

Following the sentencing of 50 other men, Gisèle Pelicot described the trial as a painful experience but expressed hope for a future where women and men can “live in harmony with respect and mutual understanding.”

It was her decision to forgo her anonymity and make the trial public that brought international attention to issues of rape and drug-facilitated sexual assault.

The court in Avignon, southern France, convicted all 51 defendants, aged 27 to 74, but Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer remarked on Friday that “no sentence will restore the life that was taken from her.”

via BBC

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