Facing Questions in Gang Rape Trial, Victim Asks Her Own

Gisele Pelicot tells court she's faced humiliating grilling by defense lawyers
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 18, 2024 7:30 PM CDT
Facing Questions in Gang Rape Trial, Woman Asks Her Own
Gisele Pelicot arrives in the Avignon courthouse, in Avignon, southern France, on Sept. 5.   (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

After being questioned by defense lawyers Wednesday about her sex life, including whether she was really unconscious while being raped by dozens of men recruited by her husband, Gisele Pelicot responded in full. "Since I arrived in this courtroom, I have been humiliated," she told the French court, per the Independent. "I have been called an alcoholic, an accomplice of Mr. Pelicot. I have heard everything." Her ex-husband, Dominique, already told the court he's guilty of drugging and arranging gang rapes of his wife. At one point, Gisele Pelicot said, "I understand why victims of rape don't press charges." She also raised questions of her own after the lawyers asked about:

  • Consent: One lawyer asked if she was unconscious in one instance shown in a video. "I didn't give my consent to Mr. Pelicot or these men behind me for one second," she said, per the AP, adding, "I was in a state of coma."
  • Her preferences: Another defense lawyer raising the issue of consent asked, "Don't you have tendencies that you are not comfortable with?" Pelicot said that the question was insulting and said she wouldn't answer it.
  • How much time passed: A lawyer asked if she thought the sexual acts lasted as long as the time stamps on the videos indicated. "Rape is not a question of time," she said. "To talk of minutes, seconds. ... It does not matter how long they spent. It's so degrading, humiliating what I am hearing in this room."
Pelicot asked her own questions at various points Wednesday that went unanswered about the defendants, per the Guardian, some of whom have said they thought her husband's permission was sufficient, including:

  • "What are these men? Are they degenerates?" she said angrily. "They have committed rapes."
  • "When they see a woman sleeping on her bed, no one thought to ask themselves a question? Don't they have brains?"
  • "When does a husband decide for his wife?"
"Today I'm taking back control of my life," Gisele Pelicot said on the stand, per NBC News. "Many women don't have the proof. I have the proof." (More Dominique Pelicot stories.)

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