Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault and rape which some readers may find distressing.
The courageous decision by Gisèle Pelicot to forgo her anonymity and reveal her ex-husband as a rapist shocked many, particularly due to the disturbing revelations of how he drugged her for years, allowing numerous men to assault her.
Fourteen months have passed since her ex-husband, Dominique, alongside 50 other men, was convicted of raping her and sentenced to jail. Pelicot’s resilience remains unwavering. While Dominique is incarcerated for a 20-year sentence for his prolonged abuse spanning nine years, she is now seeking answers.
At 73, Pelicot has expressed her desire to confront her abuser and demand explanations about the series of assaults he orchestrated from 2011 to 2020, when his crimes were finally uncovered.
Investigators in France continue to explore the full scope of Dominique’s offenses. Pelicot has shared with the New York Times her intention to have Dominique address his alleged involvement in the 1991 rape and murder of an estate agent, and explain the inappropriate images of their daughter found on his computer.
Despite the extensive investigation into Dominique’s nine-year spree of marital sexual abuse in Mazan, France, and the chilling cache of images showcasing his crimes, there are still approximately 20 men implicated in Pelicot’s abuse who have yet to be caught.
The family’s struggles didn’t end with his conviction. Two of the images found in Dominique’s possession seem to show their daughter Caroline unconscious and undressed, further deepening the family’s turmoil as they deal with his years of betrayal.
Caroline expressed her feelings of not being believed initially by her mother. Pelicot acknowledged to the publication that instead of uniting the family, her ex-husband’s trial had caused ‘an explosion that blows everything away’.
Despite these family challenges, Pelicot is attempting to mend her relationship with Caroline, speaking with her daily. Yet, she still seeks clarity from Dominique.
She conveyed to the Times that the context of the disturbing photos of Caroline remains an ‘inescapable hell’.
Pelicot stated: “There are those two photos of her asleep that open up a lot of questions. But I don’t have any answers, and Monsieur Pelicot didn’t give her any answers either.”
This is why Pelicot desires to confront him directly, hoping for honesty about his actions.
She remarked: “I hope that when we’re face to face, he’ll be able to tell me the truth, both about his daughter and about everything else he’s now accused of.
“Maybe he’ll have some remorse. I’m still holding on to that hope. Maybe I’m naive, maybe I won’t get an answer.”
Pelicot also recounted the moment she discovered her husband’s nine-year campaign of drugging and raping her, following his arrest for taking inappropriate pictures. This arrest led to a search of his devices, revealing numerous images of abuse, including those of her. Pelicot described an officer’s changing expression as he showed her a stack of images, and she initially couldn’t recognize herself.
She recounted: “And of course I didn’t recognize myself, because I was with a man I didn’t know, who was raping me. I said: ‘I don’t know this man’…
“He shows me a second photo, which is pretty much the same, and he says: ‘That’s you there.’ I say no, and he says: ‘This is your room, Madame Pelicot, these are your bedside lamps. We searched your home, these are your belongings.’”
Initially, Pelicot struggled to grasp what the police revealed—that she had been raped over 200 times while unconscious, with Dominique even filming his heinous acts.
She described the horrifying footage: “I’m a rag doll. It’s as if I’ve come out of surgery, because I’m completely anaesthetized.
“These men, when you see what they’re doing to me – how is it possible that my body couldn’t feel anything? … Fortunately for me, I have no memories, because I think I would have killed myself afterward.”
Pelicot plans to share her experiences in an upcoming memoir, A Hymn To Life, set for release in the US on February 17.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.