‘Thank you, Gisele’
French feminists salute Gisele Pelicot as her husband and 50 other rapists are jailed
“THANK You Gisele,” a huge banner read opposite the Avignon courtroom today as Gisele Pelicot watched her rapist husband Dominique sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
Mr Pelicot received the maximum sentence for aggravated rape under French law after admitting he had drugged his wife over years, knocking her out and recruiting strangers online who abused her while he filmed the process. At 72, he may die in jail.
All 50 men accused of the rape or sexual assault of Ms Pelicot in a trial which has shaken France got jail sentences, ranging from three to 15 years, though prosecutors said they felt many of the sentences were too lenient.
More from this author
Long having been considered the ‘US’s backyard,’ Latin America is the crucible of anti-imperialist struggle – yet with the rise of China as an economic and ideological counterweight to Washington, we see a new phase of that struggle emerge, writes BEN CHACKO
Similar stories
The relevance that rape law places on ‘a rapist’s state of mind’ makes a mockery of women’s autonomy, argues legal scholar WENDY MURPHY