Gisèle Pelicot's ex-husband and 50 others have been found guilty of raping the 72-year-old woman over an almost 10-year period. Dominique Pelicot will spend 20 years behind bars after admitting to drugging his then wife and inviting strangers to rape her while she was unconscious.
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00:00Giselle Pellicot exits a French court for the final time after all 51 men
00:05accused of raping her including her ex-husband were found guilty. A symbol of
00:10courage and resistance to survivors of sexual assault, the 72 year old waived her
00:13right to anonymity during the three-month trial to allow media coverage.
00:30Her three children who were at her side throughout the trial said they were
00:51disappointed by what they called the low sentences given to the perpetrators.
01:00Giselle's former husband of more than four decades Dominique Pellicot was
01:05handed the maximum sentence for rape in France, 20 years in prison. He admitted to
01:10drugging his wife and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her while she was
01:13unconscious. This went on for nearly a decade. Dominique enlisted the men in an
01:18online chat room dedicated to discussing sexual assault. Giselle was completely
01:23unaware until 2020 when Pellicot was caught filming up women's skirts and on
01:27his phone police found 20,000 videos and photos of his motionless wife being
01:31assaulted. Giselle demanded the footage be shown in court hoping it would help
01:36other women speak up.
01:48Giselle stared down her abusers in court. The 50 other defendants were found
01:53guilty of at least one charge, 47 of rape. Their sentences range from 3 to 15
01:59years. Their names have been released to the public, among them fathers, husbands,
02:04disability workers and soldiers. Many had denied the charges saying they thought
02:09it was a consensual sex game orchestrated by the couple.
02:23Despite the guilty verdicts, many feel the sentence handed down is too short.
02:29The trial triggered protest rallies around France in support of Giselle and
02:53prompted calls for tougher rape laws in the country. At present, rape is defined as
02:58involving violence, threat or coercion and it is not expressly stated that sex
03:02requires consent.
03:28Green Party lawmakers have launched a review of the law to include the word
03:31consent, hoping to push through change in France off the back of this court
03:35victory that only scratches the surface of a wider problem festering in the
03:39shadows. Karma Su and Rosie Greninja for Taiwan Plus.