Gisèle Pelicot lifts her sunglasses and chooses to fight back

The woman at the centre of the mass rape case sees her public trial as a chance to "stand for all victims".

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersGisèle Pelicot lifts her sunglasses and chooses to fight backEPAWarning: This story contains descriptions of alleged sexual offences.

There was a moment, a few weeks into the trial, when Gisèle Pelicot decided it was time to remove her sunglasses.

It wasn't just an acknowledgment of the fading autumn sunshine in the medieval southern French city of Avignon. It was also an indication that she'd passed a milestone – one of many that have marked her slow, painful journey from serene grandmother, to anguished and shame-haunted rape victim, to fearful courtroom witness, to global icon of courage and defiance.

"She had these sunglasses she used to hide her eyes… to protect her intimacy," said Stéphane Babonneau, the youthful criminal lawyer who for two years has guided Mrs Pelicot through the case against her ex-husband, Dominique, and fifty other men now on trial for allegedly raping her.

"But there was a point when she felt she no longer needed to protect herself. She didn't need [the glasses]," Mr Babonneau explained, seizing on that moment as a way to illustrate the slow transformation of a "sincere… very humble person", who had begun the trial "extremely worried", shocked by the blaze of publicity, and still feeling "very ashamed of what had happened to her".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1elzzz6g0lo

---