Trigger warning: This article contains material of a highly sensitive nature including sexual violence and rape that may be triggering for some individuals.
In 2020, a 67-year-old man was caught stalking women and filming under their skirts in a supermarket. When a security guard noticed what was happening, he managed to convince one of them to file a report. No one could have imagined that a historic trial would follow: the Mazan Rape Trial. A trial that would change the course of women’s freedom of expression.
The man in question, Dominique Pelicot, was recruiting men on a discussion forum entitled “à son insu” (unwittingly) to rape his wife of 38 years Gisèle Pelicot in their house. He published an advert mentioning that he was seeking perverted accomplices to abuse his wife asleep in his care on the Coco.gg platform, now closed, and already known for its illegal activities.
When the investigation was launched, the police found more than 20,000 photos and videos on Dominique Pelicot’s computer of his wife being raped – revealing to Gisèle what she had been unconsciously subjected to over the past 10 years. Dominique had been recording every rape, keeping them meticulously classed on a USB key, in a folder called “ABUS” (abuse). About 200 rapes of Gisèle Pelicot were recorded by investigators between July 2011 and Oct. 2020, more than 100 of which were committed by Dominique Pelicot. As for the other suspects, only 51 men were identified. Many escaped justice, having died before the trial or being unidentifiable.
On Sept. 2, 2024, the trial began. Gisèle Pelicot refused to be perceived as a victim and therefore decided not to go through a closed-door trial. The videos of her rapes were shown at the trials. It is in her abusers’ eyes, she expressed, that shame must change sides.
The evidence that Gisèle Pelicot possessed is often lacking in rape cases, leaving them word against word. This happened with her daughter Caroline Darion, for whom a nude photo was found in a file called “ma fille à poil” (my daughter naked) on her father’s hard drive. Even if all the factors point to Darion being a victim, she has no material proof in the eyes of the law.
After a three and a half month trial and over 100 days of court, the verdict finally came down on Dec. 19, 2024: Dominique Pelicot, age 72, was found guilty for the charge of aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot and sentenced to the maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment. Forty eight of the accused were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years. One of them escaped.
It was with deep emotion as she left the tribunal that Gisèle Pelicot spoke after the court’s verdict was announced, explaining how difficult of a period this trial was for her. She also mentioned that she had fought this battle for her children and grandchildren.
This event has touched France and the entire world for several months now, exposing the reality of conjugal rape and chemical submission. Leaving the country in a state of shock, this trial also reopened the 1980 definition of consent. On March 8, 2024, during an exchange with the feminist association “Choisir la cause des femmes,” President Emmanuel Macron spoke of incorporating the absence of consent in matters of rape into the law. Later, Minister of Justice Didier Migaud also expressed that he was in favor of revising the definition of rape in the French penal code to include the notion of consent explicitly.
After being voted “most outstanding personality of 2024” by Odoxa, in front of Donald Trump, a petition was launched by British journalist Catherine Mayer on Jan. 8, 2025, for Gisèle Pelicot to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. As of today, 135,162 people have signed the petition.
