French woman responds with outrage after lawyers suggest she consented to a decade of rape
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, struck a defiant note during her testimony Wednesday as defense lawyers raised doubts about whether she was fully unconscious during the alleged rapes by dozens of men over a decade, suggesting she may have consented to the repeated assaults orchestrated by her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, 71.
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, struck a defiant note during her testimony Wednesday as defense lawyers raised doubts about whether she was fully unconscious during the alleged rapes by dozens of men over a decade, suggesting she may have consented to the repeated assaults orchestrated by her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, 71.
“I have felt humiliated," an outraged Gisèle Pelicot said of the arguments alleging she was an alcoholic or being her ex-husband's co-conspirator. “In the state I was in, I absolutely could not respond. I was in a comatose state; the videos show that.”
At least 83 men were recorded on video and photos assaulting an unconscious Pelicot; 50 of them have been identified and are currently on trial accused of raping her, which many of them deny. Two defense lawyers for some of the men had asked the court to display photos which they said raised doubts whether the victim was aware of what was happening to her.
“What are these men? Are they degenerates?” Gisèle Pelicot told the court. “When they see a woman sleeping on her bed, no one thought to ask themselves a question? They don’t have brains?”
Gisele Pelicot leaving the courthouse in Avignon.Christophe Simon / AFP - Getty Images file Gisèle Pelicot has been applauded by her supporters for her courage to speak out as she has been attending court hearings in the southern French town of Avignon in a trial that has gripped the nation and shed light on what some activists have called the country’s “rape culture.”
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