This story written by Filip Noubel translated by Laura originally appeared on Global Voices on February 26, 2026.
Frenchwoman Gisèle Pelicot has become an international symbol of courage after fearlessly speaking out about her now ex-husband subjecting her to countless rapes while unconscious over their 50-year marriage. Following the conclusion of the high-profile criminal trial against her ex-husband, Pelicot released her memoir, “A Hymn to Life: Shame has to Change Sides,” on February 17, 2026. The book documents her experience and has gone international. The translations of her book and various interviews on international media have made her an icon of women’s resilience against the worst forms of sexual violence.
The Pelicot Rape Case, also known in France as the Mazan Rape Trial, named after a village in southeastern France where the Pelicot family lived, began in 2020 following the summons of Gisèle Pelicot’s husband, Dominique, to the local police station for allegedly taking indecent photos of women in public without their consent. Investigators then discovered that from 2011 to 2020, Dominique Pelicot chemically sedated his wife so that he and at least 50 other men, ranging from 21 to 68 years of age, could rape her and film the incident, bringing the investigation to a conclusion.
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In such cases, it is possible to request a closed trial to protect the victims’ anonymity. However, contrary to usual practices, Gisèle Pelicot decided to waive her anonymity to warn French society as a whole about the scale of the sexual violence and bring to light the consequences of toxic masculinity.
She explained this decision in this Radio France interview:
I felt ashamed when the incidents came to light on November 2, 2020, when I first became aware of all the horrors I had experienced. It took me a while. It took me four years. I told myself we had to consider all the rape victims, who don’t dare reject a closed trial out of shame, which is a dual hardship for us, a suffering we inflict on ourselves. I never imagined that my voice would resonate so widely, including beyond our borders.
In France, a woman suffers a rape or attempted rape every two and a half minutes, a figure that is likely an underestimation, as many victims do not report these offenses, which are often committed by close relations.
In October 2025, the French parliament and Senate ratified an amendment to the law defining rape, adding the concept of non-consent of any victim of sexual assault. Article 222-22 of the Penal Code now states:
Any nonconsensual sexual act committed on another person or on the perpetrator constitutes sexual assault […].
The Mazan Rape Trial shook French society and officially ended in December 2024 with the condemnation of all those accused. It had an indelible influence on the change in the definition of rape in the 2025 Penal Code.
On July 14, 2025, the French State appointed Gisèle Pelicot a knight of the Legion of Honor.
In deciding to speak publicly about the horrors she faced, Gisèle Pelicot opened a global debate in 2020. She is not only immediately recognized as a symbol of violence against women and the impunity of men who commit such acts of violence, including in liberal societies that protect gender equality by law, but also as an inspiration in social and political discourse.
On February 17, 2026, following the conclusion of her trial, Gisèle released her memour which she co-wrote with the journalist Judith Perrignon. She first presented her book on the prime-time literary TV show La Grande Librairie broadcast on a public channel on February 11, 2026, attracting more than half a million viewers. In this almost 50-minute-long interview, she reaffirmed her main message: shame must change sides, that is to say, it must no longer be the victims who are ashamed to report sexual assault, but those who commit it.
She tells how, despite having some suspicions, several visits to the doctor didn’t reveal that she was being drugged. She underscores that she refuses to be a “broken victim,” how the support of thousands of women has helped her, and how she is rebuilding her life at age 73. As the French feminist historian Michelle Perrot said on the same TV show, “Gisèle Pelicot is inspiring.”
While this was her first interview since the trials began, she has since been interviewed by journalists and outlets around the world. From El País to the New York Times, and from the BBC to Vogue Magazine and Der Spiegel, her book will be published in 22 languages, confirming her status as a global feminist icon. Her image is already being featured in various exhibitions and engaged works of art, like this mural by the artist Maca.
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