Rape case in France How does a woman go on living after such serious abuse?

A woman in France is raped hundreds of times. How do you move on after such a trauma? A women's counselor assesses the case.

Gisèle Pélicot is probably the bravest woman in France at the moment. She has been on trial as a plaintiff since last Monday. The defendant: her husband and 50 other men. The reason: between 2011 and 2020, i.e. for nine years, 72-year-old Gisèle Pélicot was drugged and raped countless times by her husband Dominique Pélicot.

The former estate agent mixed narcotic drugs into his wife's dinner. When she was unconscious, he invited complete strangers he had recruited over the internet, who then also raped his partner.

Abuse was captured in videos and pictures

He recorded the abuse in pictures and videos on his computer. Around 200 rapes of his spouse Gisèle Pélicot are documented. He committed most of them himself. However, the woman was also abused at least 92 times by strangers. Of 72 men, 54 could be identified. They and Dominique Pélicot face up to 20 years in prison. The trial is scheduled to last until December.

Gisèle Pélicot, who appeared in the courtroom with her three children, has deliberately decided to make the trial public. She wants to look the accused in the eye, her lawyer explained to TF1.

"The victim survived a fainting spell"

But is it possible to overcome such a trauma? "Yes," says Brigitte Kämpf. She is a social worker and head of the women's counseling service: sexual violence. "In this case, the victim experienced absolute powerlessness. For her, it's now a matter of regaining the ability to act," says Kämpf.

Whether confronting the perpetrators can help is different for every victim. "For some, criminal proceedings help because they can set boundaries again," says Kämpf. Gisèle Pélicot finds it very powerful that she decided to make the case public: "After such a fainting spell, it's important that those affected can make a lot of their own decisions." After all, making decisions is an important part of the healing process. "It gives you back the power to act and the ability to control," explains Kämpf. With her decision, Gisèle Pélicot would also clearly show that the shame does not lie with her, but with the perpetrators.

There is extensive evidence in this case: "The victim does not have to prove that this really happened to her. She doesn't have to expect her credibility to be called into question. That makes a big difference," explains Kämpf. She continues: "If you have to fight for your own credibility in court, the risk of re-traumatization can be higher."

Trust in people needs to be rebuilt

"Regaining trust in people is the work that now needs to be done," says Kämpf. A therapeutic process is needed. How exactly this succeeds also depends on the person: "There is no one formula that fits every person perfectly." Kämpf emphasizes: "There is no black and white thinking. You always have to look at what the person needs and what gives them security."

Dominique Pélicot was arrested in 2020 when he was caught filming women up their skirts in a shopping center. The police then arrested him, questioned him and checked his computer. There they found thousands of images and videos of the abuse. These included nude photos of his own daughter.

Man suspected of further serious crimes

In addition to the abuse of his wife, Dominique Pélicot is accused of further crimes. In 1999, he allegedly tried to drug and rape a young real estate agent. His DNA was recovered from this crime.

Pélicot is also under investigation in the case of the unsolved murder of a real estate agent in Paris in 1991.