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| Gisèle Pélicot | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 December 1952 (age 72) Villingen-Schwenningen, West Germany |
| Occupation | Logistics manager |
| Known for | Victim of the Mazan rapes |
| Spouse(s) | Dominique Pélicot[a] (m. 1973, divorced) (div. 2024) |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | giselepelicot.com |
Gisèle Pélicot (born 7 December 1952)[1] is a French former logistics manager who has gained prominence in connection with the trial of her husband Dominique Pélicot, who drugged her and allowed at least 50 men to rape her while she was unconscious; the case came to be known as the Mazan rapes. She waived anonymity at the trial, preferring to reveal her mistreatment in public in support of all victims of sexual abuse.[2] As a result, she has gained wide media attention and has been included on the BBC’s 2024 list of 100 women[3] and cited as one of the 25 most influential women of 2024 by the Financial Times.[4]
Early life
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Born on 7 December 1952 in Villingen-Schwenningen in southwest Germany, Gisèle Pélicot was the daughter of a French military serviceman. She arrived in France when she was five but lost her mother from cancer when nine. In 1971, she met her husband-to-be, Dominique Pélicot.[1] They married in April 1973 and moved to the Paris suburb of Villiers-sur-Marne where they raised their three children, two sons and one daughter.[5]
Career and retirement
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After spending several years raising her family, Pelicot began working at the French electricity utility Électricité de France in the Paris area, where her husband also worked.[5] She remained there for the rest of her active employment, eventually gaining a management position in logistics for nuclear power stations.[1] In 2013, they retired and moved to Mazan in southeastern France.[6] They lived in a large house with a swimming pool, frequently spending their summers there with their children and grandchildren. For Gisèle Pélicot, it was a really happy life.[7]
Abuse and trial
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Main article: Mazan rapes
On 9 December 2024, the BBC published a detailed account of how, after being shown pictures revealing the abuse managed by her husband in November 2020, Pélicot had slowly begun to cope with the situation and decided to be present at his trial. Initially she wore sunglasses but as the trial continued she realized she no longer needed to protect herself and appeared without them. After she received letters from other victims, she increasingly felt somewhat responsible for those who had also suffered abuse. She told Stéphane Babonneay, her lawyer, “I’m lucky to have the evidence. I have the proof, which is very rare- So I have to go through [all this] to stand for all the victims.”[8]
Notes
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- ^ Gisèle and Dominique first divorced for financial reasons and remarried soon after. The year(s) of their first divorce and remarriage remain unknown.
References
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- ^ Jump up to:a b c Lucazeau, Olivier (14 September 2024). “” Une femme extraordinaire ” : Gisèle Pelicot, la figure de proue des victimes de viol et de soumission chimique” (in French). le Télégramme. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
- ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (20 November 2024). “Gisèle Pelicot held trial in public to force debate on rape culture, say lawyers”. The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
- ^ “BBC 100 Women 2024: Who is on the list this year? – BBC News”. News. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
- ^ Slimani, Leila (6 December 2024). “The FT’s 25 most influential women of 2024”. Financial Times. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Prange de Oliverira, Astrid (25 October 2024). “Missbrauchsprozess in Frankreich: Wer ist Gisèle Pélicot?” (in German). DW. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
- ^ Lamoen, Claire (28 November 2024). “A French Man Recruited Dozens of Strangers to Rape His Wife”. The Cut. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
- ^ Gozzi, Laura (17 November 2024). “Final phase for mass rape trial that has horrified France”. BBC. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ Harding, Andrew (9 December 2024). “Gisèle Pelicot lifts her sunglasses and chooses to fight back”. BBC. Retrieved 9 December 2024.