“We are all Gisèle” | Demonstrations in France in support of rape victims

(Marseille) Impressed by the “courage” of Gisèle Pelicot, drugged by her husband and then raped by dozens of men whose sensational trial is underway, thousands of people demonstrated Saturday in France their support for victims of sexual violence, so that “the shame changes sides.”

“We are all Gisèle”, “rapist we see you, victim we believe you”, “you are no longer alone”, chanted the 3000 demonstrators gathered in Paris, Place de la République.

In Marseille, several hundred people – more than 1,000 according to the organizers – gathered in front of the courthouse, hanging a banner “So that shame changes sides.”

At the other end of France, in Rennes (west), 200 to 400 people held placards with the same slogan or “protect your daughter, educate your son”, “Gisèle we love you”.

The call to come together for victims of sexual violence was launched with a poster showing the face of Gisèle Pelicot, with a bob and round glasses, drawn by Belgian graphic designer “Aline Dessine” with 2.5 million subscribers on TikTok.

Because by agreeing to make public the trial of her husband and the more than fifty men he had recruited on the Internet to rape her while she was unconscious, this 71-year-old woman has raised a powerful wave of support for victims of rape and sexual assault.

The trial of Dominique Pelicot and his 50 co-defendants, aged 26 to 74, opened on September 2 in Avignon. But the absence of Gisèle’s ex-husband, 71, who is ill, led to its suspension until Monday, with the court considering a pure and simple postponement of the case if Dominique Pelicot is “permanently unavailable.”

“Huge courage”

“It took a lot of courage, but it was essential. It allowed her to see the faces of her husband and all the others, to see that they weren’t marginal people but ‘good fathers’,” said Justine Imbert, 34, who came to demonstrate in Marseille with her six-year-old daughter.

Everywhere, protesters expressed the hope that these issues would no longer be taboo and that the ongoing trial would push society and public authorities to act.

“This high-profile trial will allow us to talk about it, to raise awareness,” hopes Martine Ragon, 74, a retiree demonstrating in Marseille to “denounce rape culture.”

“We are facing a victim who is extremely powerful, extremely courageous, who shows her face, who refused to go behind closed doors and who asks that the whole world have its eyes fixed on this case, so we are here to highlight it and to ask that justice be done,” also emphasizes Elsa Labouret, spokesperson for Osez le féminisme! who demonstrated in Paris, Place de la République.

The Parisian procession included Charlotte Arnould, who filed a complaint for rape against Gérard Depardieu, against whom the Paris prosecutor’s office has requested a trial, Camille Kouchner, author of the book The Big Family who denounces the incest committed against her brother by the political scientist Olivier Duhamel, or the deputy Sandrine Josso, who filed a complaint in 2023 against the senator Joël Guerriau whom she accuses of having drugged her with a view to assaulting her.

“When I read the story, I felt disgusted, even disgusted at being a man. […] “I hope there will be real condemnations, real examples,” Stéphane Boufferet, 26, an agricultural worker who demonstrated with around 200 people in Clermont-Ferrand (centre), told AFP.

Anne-Cécile Mailfert, president of the Fondation des femmes, reiterated in Paris the call from feminist organisations for a “comprehensive law against sexist and sexual violence”.

And he added: “We estimated that at least three billion in total would be needed to act on the issue of sexual violence, three billion is not even 0.5% of the state budget, 0.5% of the state budget to save lives.”