Gisèle Pelicot, the woman whose husband used drugs for nearly ten years to offer her to dozens of men who raped her while she was unconscious, sent a message on Monday to other victims of sexual violence around the world to tell them: “You are not alone.”
In a brief statement to the press before the start of the hearing in Avignon (south-east France) during which her now ex-husband and 50 other men are being tried for having raped her, Gisèle Pelicot was keen to thank the expressions of support she has received since the start of the process, and in particular the demonstrations organised in France this Saturday.
“Thanks to all of you, I have the strength to fight this battle to the end. I dedicate this fight to all the people, women and men, victims of sexual violence in the world. To all these victims, I want to say today, look around you, you are not alone,” said Pélicot.
These remarks were made a few minutes before the scheduled start time of a hearing which the main accused, Dominique Pelicot, did not attend because, as his lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, stated, a stone was detected in his gallbladder and he is suffering from a kidney infection.
The hearing is intended to assess the consequences of the main accused’s illness and this could lead the presiding judge, Roger Arata, to decide to suspend the trial for a few days or postpone it in the long term.
