hearings that question the whole of society

For two weeks, the same applause has greeted Gisèle Pelicot. Anonymous people have come to support her. “I applauded her (…) She has incredible courage”greets a woman who has come to the Avignon courthouse. In the courtroom where Dominique Pelicot and the other accused are speaking, there is not enough room for the public. A broadcast is taking place in another room. But there too, there is a queue. “We will wait as long as it takes (…) for society to change”says a woman.

Many women are waiting, but also a few men. “It’s a social fact”says a pensioner. The trial has become a symbol. A large number of French and foreign journalists attend it. The issue of chemical submission is brought to the forefront. “It was a nightclub phenomenon, it was marginal, we couldn’t think that it could happen in the closed family environment”explains Jean-Philippe Deniau, police-justice journalist at France Inter. The trial will last until December and should continue to question the whole of French society.