The Memo: Gisèle Pelicot trial calls French rape laws into question

Even if you’re not sure of her name, it’s likely you’re aware of her story. Gisèle Pelicot is a French woman who’s the victim at the centre of one of the largest rape trials in history. Ms Pelicot’s ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, has admitted to recruiting men online to rape his wife whilst she was drugged and unconscious. The crimes took place between July 2011 and October 2020, and were discovered when Mr Pelicot was arrested for taking upskirt photos of women in a supermarket, and the subsequent investigation found thousands of images and videos of the crimes. 51 men, identified through those photos and videos, have been on trial for rape, and Mr Pelicot himself has also admitted to the charges. His sentencing with take place in late December. 

Ms Pelicot has become somewhat of a feminist icon through the trial. Despite having been the victim of such horrendous crimes, she waived her right to anonymity to ensure that the trial could take place in the full view of the public. She did this to raise awareness of drug-facilitated sexual assault, attitudes towards rape in France, and the lack of a clear definition of consent in the law. Ms Pelicot has said that it is time for France to address a society which she feels trivialises rape. Campaign groups agree, and French justice minister Didier Migaud has said that he supports the addition of ‘consent’ to the definition of rape in French criminal law. This is a controversial topic, as others have warned that changing the focus of the law to ‘consent’ could potentially lead to more criticism of the behaviour of victims of sexual crime, rather than the perpetrators.