Gisele Pelicot has said she thought of her grandchildren during the drugging-and-rape trial that turned her into a feminist hero.
She said after 51 men, including her ex-husband, were all found guilty on Thursday of rape or sexual offences, that the ordeal was “very difficult” and she expressed support for other victims of sexual violence.
“We share the same fight,” she said in her first words after the court in the southern French city of Avignon handed down prison sentences ranging from three to 20 years. She had waived her right to anonymity.
She said that she had her grandchildren in mind as she endured the more than three months of hearings, saying: “It’s also for them that I led this fight.”
Gisele Pelicot speaking to the press as she leaves court in Avignon (Lewis Joly/AP)
The court sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious, in abuse that lasted nearly a decade.
The sentence against Pelicot was the maximum possible under French law. He was declared guilty of all charges against him.
At age 72, it could mean that he spends the rest of his life in prison. He will not be eligible to ask for early release until at least two-thirds of the sentence has been served.
Of the 50 others accused of rape, just one was acquitted but was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault.
Another man was also found guilty on the sexual assault charge that he was tried for – meaning all 51 of the defendants were found guilty in one way or another.
The shocking case stunned France and spurred a national reckoning about the blight of rape culture.