Shocking rape trial highlights the systematic struggles French sexual abuse victims face

AVIGNON, France — The trial of dozens of men accused of raping an unconscious woman whose husband repeatedly drugged her over the course of nearly a decade has highlighted the difficulties that sexual violence victims can face in France. Placards left read, “3 billion euros to combat violence against women.” Despite evidence including meticulously archived photos and videos that Pelicot shot of the alleged rapes, some of the defendants’ lawyers have scrutinized Gisèle Pelicot’s private life and motives, even questioning whether she was truly unconscious during some of the encounters. “In most cases, the victims’ words are called into question and the shame falls on them rather than on the man who committed the rape.” Piques said she has been particularly shocked by the questions about Gisèle Pelicot’s sex life, including “whether she was into swinging or threesomes, when this woman was drugged and unconscious.” Gisèle Pelicot has shown remarkable calm and stoicism during the trial, even throughout the most gruesome and explicit descriptions of the abuse she suffered. She had agreed to their display because she said she hoped they would serve as “undeniable evidence.” “I understand why victims of rape don’t press charges,” Pelicot told the five judges after a lawyer asked if she wasn’t hiding any unusual sexual “tendencies.” “I’m not even going to answer this question, which I find insulting,” she responded, her voice breaking. But despite the nauseating details that have emerged during the trial, it hasn’t stopped some from minimizing the abuse, with the mayor of the small community where the Pelicots lived, Mazan, apologizing Thursday for suggesting in a BBC interview that things could have been worse because “no children were involved” and “nobody died.” Such dismissiveness is pervasive in France’s justice system, Lafourcade said.