WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT: As Gisele Pelicot continues to inspire women and survivors across the world with her incredible bravery in the face of complete horror, she reveals a particularly devastating moment with her new partner
As Gisele Pelicot pieced together the true horrors of what her abusers had done to her, one thing became clear.
Her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot drugged and raped her over the course of a decade, all while inviting more than 50 men into their marital home to abuse her too. While Gisele suffered strange gynaecological issues and memory problems over the years, she had no idea what was happening to her until the year 2020, when twisted Pelicot, 73, was arrested for upskirting at a local supermarket.
After his arrest, police searched the home found more than 20,000 videos and pictures of Gisele being abused by Pelicot and others on his laptop, stored on a USB drive under file names such as ‘Abuses’, ‘her rapists’, and ‘night alone’. What followed was the devastating unravelling of a seemingly ordinary family, with Gisele left to contend with the aftermath of a life flipped completely upside down.
READ MORE: Dominique Pelicot’s sick prison life – letters about wife Gisele, fantasies and lags repulsed
Thankfully, Gisèle has found some unexpected happiness amid the living nightmare, in the form of a new love, with her “saviour” Jean-Loup. A retired Air France steward, the pair met through mutual friends and bonded over both owning French bulldogs. Jean-Loup had also been through a tragic few years before meeting Gisele – his late wife died a few years earlier after enduring a long illness, during which time he had taken care of her.
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Her new partner was secretly by her side during the gruelling trial – she kept their relationship hidden because she was afraid that it would be weaponised against her during the legal proceedings. Now, in a powerful new memoir, Gisele has revealed how her new partner helped her find the strength to bravely waive her anonyminity at the mass rape trial that shocked the world – revealing her own identity in order to force her rapists out of the shadows.
Before facing her 51 rapists in court, Gisele had the unimaginable task of reading reams of documents about her attackers and the abuse she suffered. Her lawywer told her that she had to understand the sheer scale of her husband’s horrific web of abuse to prepare for trial. In her book, she reveals that as she tried to process the details of their depraved acts, her boyfriend asked her a devastating question.
She writes bravely: “The account began with a long list of the accused. Their names, occupations, addresses. I highlighted their dates of birth. 1997 . . . 1988 . . . I was born in 1952. Their youth was baffling, and made it all the more appalling. Then, for each one, the facts.
“Abhorrent, unspeakably cruel. And entirely absent from my memory, so distant from anything I could imagine, almost unreal, despite being written down in black and white in language that managed to be both vulgar and official. And present throughout, this inert woman, whom they manhandled and dared to describe as consenting.
“My stomach tightened. I had to keep putting the pages down to catch my breath. The dates were particularly distressing. I could picture where we were, what had happened before and afterwards, what we were doing then in our lives, what I thought was happiness. That was my birthday. That was the New Year’s Eve we’d decided for once to stay in, just the two of us, after the children had gone home.
“Jean- Loup was reading the pages at the same time. It didn’t make me feel uncomfort able. ‘How on earth did your body tolerate all this?’ he asked me once or twice. Being asked this unanswerable question felt like plunging straight into the horror of what had happened, while at the same time watching it drift away and hearing myself say I had survived.”
Over the course of a full, gruelling decade, Gisèle underwent what felt like “endless medical examinations”, including blood tests, scans and neurological tests. She disclosed: “Ten years of going to see doctors who looked at me as if to say that at my age, a woman can’t expect much any more, she ought to just relax and let time continue its demolition work. Never wondering what might be going on. Never attempting a diagnosis. And Dominique, always there by my side. He knew.”
Plagued by memory gaps and frustrated by inconclusive brain scans, Gisèle even jokingly questioned Pelicot as to whether he had drugged her, little knowing how close to the truth she’d gotten.
Sickeningly, Pelicot put on a front of being a concerned husband, accompanying her to see the doctor, and even booking the appointments himself. All the while, he urged her against confiding in their children about her health problems, as he didn’t want to worry them. At the time, Gisèle viewed this as an example of his kindness. Now, she understands this was just another instance of his manipulation.
The aftermath of the trial has not been easy, both emotionally and for Gisèle health. After suffering mysterious symptoms for years, not knowing it was a result of the rapes, she was diagnosed with HPV – a group of viruses that can lead to cancer. She then had a biopsy after abnormal cells were found on her cervix, and had to have part of it removed.
Her new book hit the shelves last week but today, Gisele met Queen Camilla. The monarch sent Gisele a personal letter of support after her trial. The French icon says she was left “overwhelmed” by the note, which praised her “extraordinary dignity and courage”.
She said: “It was an honour for me to receive this letter, I wasn’t expecting it at all. I was overwhelmed that the Queen could send me this letter. Although my words touched the whole world, I wasn’t expecting a letter from the Court of England. I felt moved and very honoured that she had become aware of what had happened to me. I am grateful to her.”
A Hymn to Life: Shame has to Change Sides is available to buy in bookstores now.
If you’re struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email [email protected] or visit their site to find your local branch
If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
