Gisele Pélicot was drugged and raped over a period of almost a decade (Picture: Getty)
As the trial of Dominique Pélicot unfolds in France, women are grappling with a uniquely horrifying prospect; that they may never truly know the men in their lives, or the harm they’re capable of inflicting.
The 71-year-old admitted to drugging his wife, Gisele, also 71, and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her while she lay unconscious – assaults he catalogued in thousands of depraved videos and photographs – over a period of nine years.
In a case that’s shocked the world, 50 additional suspects identified in the films (a further 22 could not be traced) stand accused of aggravated rape of the grandmother, who has waived her right to anonymity in order to raise awareness about sexual abuse.
The men in court range in age from 26 to 74, and reportedly include a fireman, a nurse, a civil servant, a plumber, a soldier and a journalist. What they have in common however, is that they were all active in a now-defunct chatroom focused on non-consent and rough or forced sex.
Gisele Pélicot was completely unaware of the fact these men were being recruited online to take advantage of her by the man she loved, initially telling police her husband was ‘a great guy’ before being confronted by they images they’d discovered in the pair’s home in Mazan, Provence.
‘We were 50 years together, with three children and seven grandchildren, and our friends said we were the ideal couple,’ she said in court. ‘I just couldn’t take it in.’
Police found thousands of images documenting the abuse in the Pélicot’s Mazan home (Picture: Simon Ashton)
Can we really trust those closest to us?
This is one of the scariest things for many onlookers to process about this already-horrendous story. Not only were the rapes orchestrated by her life partner and the father of their children, numerous local men – some of whom will have families of their own or be considered upstanding members of the community – were ready and willing to partake.
‘This case is particularly distressing because it strikes at the core of trust within intimate relationships,’ Dr Elena Touroni, a consultant psychologist and co-founder of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic tells Metro.co.uk. ‘It shatters a fundamental belief that we can know and trust the people closest to us.’
According to Dr Elena, for some this might also ‘trigger anxiety about their own relationships and the unsettling fear that something similar could happen to them.’
they say not every man but giselle pelicot had her own HUSBAND drug her and let other men assault her body, so how are we ever supposed to know which men
— fran???? (@_franwatkins) September 8, 2024
What women know.
If more than 90 men in a local area were willing to rape a drugged and unconscious Gisele Pelicot, then likely more than 90 men in your own area are willing to rape you.
There's nothing unique about that part of France, or those men.
— Vulvamort ????⬜???? (@HairyLeggdHarpy) September 8, 2024
On X, @HlTCHANNIE commented: ‘If you can’t be safe with your husband, and with your father, in your own house, on your own bed. What’s left?’
Another, @rootsfranta, wrote: ‘Every new article I read about Gisele Pélicot’s case just makes me want to roll over and hurl with every paragraph. Women are never safe. We have to be cautious of every man because it does not matter if that man is your husband, it does not matter if he is your father or …read more
Source:: Metro
