Gisèle Pelicot opens up about decision to testify against ex-husband

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WARNING: This communicative contains descriptions of intersexual abuse.

For 50 years, Gisèle Pelicot lived with her husband, Dominique Pelicot, whom she described arsenic "a benignant man, a devoted household man. It was a beauteous emotion story, until the time I recovered myself facing the fearfulness of the facts."

Those facts shattered Gisèle's seemingly mean life, and enactment her astatine the halfway of a wide rape proceedings – an unthinkable transgression that gripped France and received worldwide attention. But it was her effect that would beryllium defining.

She sat down with "CBS Sunday Morning," for what she said was her first-ever interview: "Yes, it's a first," she said done an interpreter. "I'm not utilized to speaking successful beforehand of cameras. I utilized to beryllium a precise discreet woman."

It each unravelled successful 2020, wrong a supermarket successful Mazan, France, erstwhile what seemed similar a tiny transgression uncovered a acold greater one. Dominique Pelicot was caught taking video up women's skirts. His apprehension led to the find of disturbing footage taken wrong their location of Gisèle Pelicot unconscious.

"My satellite collapsed"

At a section constabulary station, an researcher told Gisèle what they found: "He said, 'Mrs. Pelicot, bash you admit yourself successful these photos?'" she recalled. "And I said, 'No, it's not me.' Then helium said, 'This is your bedroom.' And I spot a pistillate I don't admit astatine all, wholly dormant with a antheral beside her. I don't cognize this man. And past helium says, 'I'm going to archer you thing shocking: You were raped by 53 individuals.' My satellite collapsed."

She described the pistillate successful the video arsenic looking similar a rag doll. That pistillate was her. "Yes, it was me, but this pistillate was lifeless," she said. "She looked dead."

Her response? "I could not speak. I was successful specified a authorities of shock. All I wanted was to spell home, to get my beingness backmost arsenic it was before."

But that beingness was gone. The antheral she knew arsenic a loving begetter to their 3 children, and a doting grandfather, had been drugging her with sleeping pills and musculus relaxants, past inviting men helium met online to maltreatment her.

Her lawyer, Stéphane Babonneau, said it represented hundreds of rapes implicit astatine slightest 10 years. He and Gisèle started to grasp the standard of the crimes arsenic they prepared for proceedings – "In the scope of hundreds, if not thousands" of photos, helium said. "And for videos, decidedly hundreds."

Among the evidence: messages Dominque Pelicot posted online ("I'm looking for a pervert accomplice to maltreatment my sleeping wife..."), and substance messages ("I'm astir to dose her... We person to hold astatine slightest 1 hr to abuse").

"It's been a existent travel into the darkness," said Babonneau. He described the images arsenic "scenes of torture. There is nary different connection for that. … On this video we spot a quality being, being treated arsenic an object. We spot men who desecrate a quality body, who desecrates someone, Gisèle, who is successful profound distress, due to the fact that her beingness was astatine hazard astatine each infinitesimal wherever she was drugged and abused."

Victims of intersexual maltreatment tin stay anonymous successful France. So up until the proceedings successful 2024, Gisèle Pelicot's sanction was not known. But past she made a bold decision: to request an unfastened trial, allowing the nationalist and the property into the courtroom.

Revealing her individuality to the world, she said, was difficult: "It was precise hard. I didn't privation anybody to observe and cognize astir this pistillate who had experienced each this violence. Because, successful truth, victims ever consciousness shame astir what happened to them. I told myself that if I opened the closed-door proceedings, the shame would alteration sides."

The words "Shame Has to Change Sides" are the subtitle of her intimate relationship of the ordeal, "A Hymn to Life" (to beryllium published Tuesday by Penguin Press).

Babonneau said helium was disquieted erstwhile helium heard that she wanted to person an unfastened trial: "Because we knew that determination would beryllium a tremendous unit connected her," helium said.

"Anger and hatred physique nothing; they destroy"

At trial, the accused hid their faces arsenic they filed into court. They ranged successful property from 26 to 74. Among them: a firefighter, a soldier, and a nurse. In court, galore claimed Gisèle Pelicot indispensable person known, indispensable person been complicit.

But Dominique Pelicot admitted everything, testifying, "It was ever against her knowledge," adding helium drugged her 2 to 3 times a week. "I had an addiction," helium said.

Looking back, Gisèle said, determination were informing signs: "I lone knew I had blackouts, and I had wellness problems," she said. There were besides periods wherever her representation was affected. "I couldn't retrieve that I'd been to the hairdresser; it was lone the adjacent time that I realized I had," she said. "And erstwhile I called my children, it was the aforesaid – I didn't retrieve our conversations.

"I thought I was earnestly ill. I consulted neurologists, I had a CT scan – thing was found," she said.

Even recounting her horrifying ordeal to "Sunday Morning," Gisèle Pelicot maintained her poise. "I've ever been this way," she said. "Anger and hatred physique nothing; they destroy. And I didn't privation to spell down that path."

The proceedings made headlines worldwide, and drew immense crowds of supporters, who praised Gisèle Pelicot for her bravery, holding her up arsenic a feminist hero. Seeing those supporters, she said, made her consciousness that she was not alone: "It was an unthinkable root of spot for me."

Gisele Pelicot Attends Court During Trial Of Her Former Husband

All of the 51 men yet enactment connected proceedings were convicted. Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to the maximum of 20 years.

He has asked for his (now ex-)wife's forgiveness. But Gisèle Pelicot says, "No. Forgiveness is highly difficult. But I don't privation to unrecorded successful hatred. I bash request to talk with him – and it volition besides beryllium to accidental goodbye."

But she does privation to spot him again. "Yes," she said. "I request answers. I whitethorn ne'er get them. But that's besides portion of my journey."

During our interview, conscionable disconnected camera, was Gisèle's caller partner, Jean-Loup, who was besides by her broadside during the trial, on with her children.

"I ne'er thought I'd autumn successful love, oregon adjacent privation to," she said. "It's a beauteous story. As for the rest, it belongs to us, and I support that to myself."

But you're successful love? "Indeed. You tin autumn successful emotion astatine immoderate age. Everything is possible. That, too, is simply a connection of hope, to archer yourself that thing is mislaid successful life."

Despite the details of her ordeal, by the extremity of the book, her communicative is, miraculously, uplifting. "I was ever wondering what my ngo connected Earth was, wherefore I had been born," she said. "Some are painters, immoderate are poets, others are writers. I deliberation my ngo was to springiness others hope, that adjacent aft hardship, you tin emergence again and take happiness. I deliberation that was my mission."

For much info:

"A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides" by Gisèle Pelicot (Penguin Press), successful Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, disposable February 17 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org

Story produced by Mikaela Bufano. Editor: Brian Robbins.

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