The first day Gisèle Pelicot walked up the steps of the courthouse in Avignon in September 2024, she was an anonymous retired grandmother. Within weeks, this diminutive 72-year-old - the victim at the centre of the largest rape trial in French history, involving 51 men including her husband - had become a feminist icon. She was last seen in public when the verdicts - all guilty - were handed down in December. By then, crowds of supporters were chanting her name.
On Monday Gisèle Pelicot returns to court, this time in Nîmes, for the appeal of the only one of the 51 defendants to challenge his sentence: Husamettin Dogan, 44, a married father of one.
Between September and December last year, Gisèle's bleak story travelled the world. For over a decade, she had been drugged unconscious by her husband Dominique and raped by dozens of men he had recruited on internet chat rooms. Dominique Pelicot filmed the assaults and neatly catalogued them on a hard disk, which allowed investigators to track down the majority of the individuals involved. Around 20 could not be identified and remain at large.
After a trial lasting 16 weeks, 46 men were found guilty of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault. Dominique Pelicot was handed the maximum jail sentence of 20 years.
Husamettin Dogan's appeal next week will, in effect, be a retrial. The videos of Gisèle's rape will be shown in court again, and Pelicot will be present – this time, though, only as a witness. While she is not obliged to, Gisèle too will attend the proceedings. Everyone would have understood if she hadn't come because, well, she is trying to resume a normal life, one of her lawyers, Stéphane Babonneau, told the BBC. But she feels she needs to be there and has a responsibility to be there until the end of the proceedings.
In December, Dogan was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to nine years in prison. Due to health reasons, he was handed a deferred custody warrant and is not currently in jail. He is reportedly appealing both the guilty verdict and the length of his sentence.
Dogan's defence hinged on the argument he could not be guilty of raping Gisèle because he had not realised she would be unconscious. Pelicot rejected this argument, stating he had made it abundantly clear to recruits that his wife would be drugged. He admitted in court that he referred to her as 'looking dead'.
Although 16 other defendants also initially lodged appeals, Dogan was the only one who has pushed ahead with it. Unlike the first trial, Dogan's appeal will be judged by a jury made up of nine members of the public who will decide on both his conviction and the length of his jail term.
The proceedings are set to be combative. Last year, Dogan's lawyer hinted that Gisèle may have been complicit, provoking an outraged response from her. If Dogan loses his appeal, the trial's huge resonance may mean the jury ends up being less lenient than the judges were last December.
Gisèle Pelicot has become not only a symbol in the fight against sexual violence but also a possible catalyst for change within her own family. Her compelling story, while gaining global recognition, has sadly resulted in a fracture among her children, with only one son expected to support her at the upcoming hearings.
The Pelicot case has indeed echoed throughout French society, transforming it and igniting conversations about consent, victimhood, and the paradigm shift needed in responding to sexual crimes.
On Monday Gisèle Pelicot returns to court, this time in Nîmes, for the appeal of the only one of the 51 defendants to challenge his sentence: Husamettin Dogan, 44, a married father of one.
Between September and December last year, Gisèle's bleak story travelled the world. For over a decade, she had been drugged unconscious by her husband Dominique and raped by dozens of men he had recruited on internet chat rooms. Dominique Pelicot filmed the assaults and neatly catalogued them on a hard disk, which allowed investigators to track down the majority of the individuals involved. Around 20 could not be identified and remain at large.
After a trial lasting 16 weeks, 46 men were found guilty of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault. Dominique Pelicot was handed the maximum jail sentence of 20 years.
Husamettin Dogan's appeal next week will, in effect, be a retrial. The videos of Gisèle's rape will be shown in court again, and Pelicot will be present – this time, though, only as a witness. While she is not obliged to, Gisèle too will attend the proceedings. Everyone would have understood if she hadn't come because, well, she is trying to resume a normal life, one of her lawyers, Stéphane Babonneau, told the BBC. But she feels she needs to be there and has a responsibility to be there until the end of the proceedings.
In December, Dogan was found guilty of aggravated rape and sentenced to nine years in prison. Due to health reasons, he was handed a deferred custody warrant and is not currently in jail. He is reportedly appealing both the guilty verdict and the length of his sentence.
Dogan's defence hinged on the argument he could not be guilty of raping Gisèle because he had not realised she would be unconscious. Pelicot rejected this argument, stating he had made it abundantly clear to recruits that his wife would be drugged. He admitted in court that he referred to her as 'looking dead'.
Although 16 other defendants also initially lodged appeals, Dogan was the only one who has pushed ahead with it. Unlike the first trial, Dogan's appeal will be judged by a jury made up of nine members of the public who will decide on both his conviction and the length of his jail term.
The proceedings are set to be combative. Last year, Dogan's lawyer hinted that Gisèle may have been complicit, provoking an outraged response from her. If Dogan loses his appeal, the trial's huge resonance may mean the jury ends up being less lenient than the judges were last December.
Gisèle Pelicot has become not only a symbol in the fight against sexual violence but also a possible catalyst for change within her own family. Her compelling story, while gaining global recognition, has sadly resulted in a fracture among her children, with only one son expected to support her at the upcoming hearings.
The Pelicot case has indeed echoed throughout French society, transforming it and igniting conversations about consent, victimhood, and the paradigm shift needed in responding to sexual crimes.
