Mazan rape case | Deciphering a shocking case

(The Press in Paris) She could have testified behind closed doors. Gisèle Pelicot, handed over by her husband to 50 men, raped while she was drugged, instead chose to speak with her face uncovered, “so that the shame changes sides”. Many hope that this trial – highly publicized – will have long-term repercussions. In particular by allowing the notion of consent to be included in the French Criminal Code.

“The facade is solid, but the inside is a field of ruins.” In one sentence, Gisèle Pelicot summed up her condition. The septuagenarian was drugged and raped for 10 years by her husband and dozens of men he recruited on the internet. Since September 2, 51 of her rapists have been on trial before the criminal court of Vaucluse, in Avignon, France. These are the men that the justice system managed to identify thanks to videos of the rapes, filmed by the husband, Dominique Pelicot, and messages exchanged on a dating site.

It was in 2020 that Gisèle Pelicot’s life changed. In a relationship with the same man for 50 years, she was summoned to the police station, where the police lieutenant revealed the unthinkable: her husband was raping her. Dozens of other men too. In thousands of photos and videos recovered from Dominique Pelicot’s computer, she sees herself inert, naked, accompanied by strangers. “I’m being raped. These are scenes of barbarity.”, she said. The images are dated from 2011 to 2020. Her world is falling apart. Suddenly, the amnesia and loss of bearings finally make sense. For 10 years, her husband drugged her.

Why is Gisèle Pelicot testifying?

French law allows for closed-door hearings for rape victims. Gisèle Pelicot insists that the whole country hears her voice. She wants “the shame to change sides.” “I held out for four years for this. So that if one day a woman wakes up without remembering the night before, she will remember my testimony.”, she said at the bar on September 5.

It is for this reason, too, that she agreed to have her married name – she is in the process of divorcing and has reverted to her maiden name – be used in the media, which came in large numbers to attend the hearing. Faced with the horror of what 51 men are accused of having done to her, Gisèle Pelicot is ” become [le nom] “courage incarnate” , his lawyers believe.

In France, this case places several notions at the heart of the debates. That of consent, first and foremost. This notion does not appear in the Penal Code. This gap in the law has been debated for years.

Many of the accused believe that Gisèle Pelicot consented. Unconscious, she sometimes snored and moaned in pain, as can be heard on the videos. Some of the accused, who were asked by Dominique Pelicot to warm their hands or whisper so as not to wake his wife, say they saw this as a game on the woman’s part.

Others, like Redouan E., 55, believe that the husband was “the holder of his wife’s consent.” “As long as the husband was present, there was no rape.”, said Adrien L., 34. Dominique Pelicot recruited men in a digital chat room called “À son insa”.

Publicizing chemical submission

The issue of chemical submission is also central. The investigation showed that Gisèle Pelicot had been drugged by her husband for 10 years. In France, “administering to a person, without their knowledge, a substance likely to impair their judgment or control of their actions” is punishable by five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros (CAD$113,000). Since 2018, this has been an aggravating circumstance of rape.

In 2021, according to the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM), 727 reports of suspected chemical submission were made¹. This figure is surely well below the reality of the facts. People are often unaware, like Gisèle Pelicot, that they are being drugged.

It is to raise awareness of the existence and dangers of chemical submission that Caroline Darian, one of the daughters of Dominique and Gisèle Pelicot, created the association M’endors pas²Deeply hurt by the revelations concerning her parents, she filed a civil suit in the trial. This means that she could also be recognized as a victim of her father’s actions and request, at a later civil hearing, financial compensation for her moral prejudice. Investigators also found two photos of Caroline Darian, naked, taken without her knowledge.

“Chemical submission is the tree that hides the forest of sexual violence”, believes Sandrine Josso, MP and sponsor of the association M’endors pas, who came to support Gisèle Pelicot at the trial.

“Violence against women happens every day”

All over France, this case has shocked and outraged the population. It shows that the attackers do not have a typical profile. They are of all ages, all social classes, all origins. They are husbands, brothers, sons, neighbors. Gisèle Pelicot recognized only one of the men recruited by her husband, a resident of the village: “I met him from time to time at the bakery, I said hello, I did not imagine that he had come to rape me,” she said at the bar.

Covered by the entire French and international press and media, this trial is causing a stir. In Paris, 700 kilometers from the scene of the events, the reactions are unanimous. “It’s horrible, but at the same time, violence against women happens every day. It’s the scale that makes us talk about it,” notes Marie Moreau, 24, who is skeptical that this trial “changes things.” Nicolas (who did not wish to give his last name), 54, feels “disgust” at the mention of this case that is making headlines in all the newspapers. “It’s mind-boggling to see that no one has reported anything for 10 years.”

The trial may help to enshrine consent in rape law. And raise awareness of the extent of chemical submission in the private sphere. While this extraordinary case may seem unique, it is unfortunately not. The wife of one of the accused was also a victim of this type of act. The verdict is expected on December 13.

1. Consult the results of the ANSM survey

2. Visit the website of the association M’endors pas