Gisele Pelicot's incredibly brave gesture at horror trial that went unnoticed
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Gisele Pelicot has been hailed as an icon of courage after facing her abusers in court. Her evil ex husband Dominique Pelicot has now been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of repeatedly drugging and raping Gisèle - all while inviting more than 50 strangers to commit the same depravity in their own marital bedroom. Police uncovered evidence of around 200 rapes.
Grandmother Gisèle, 72, had previously believed herself to be in a happy 50-year marriage with her former teenage sweetheart and had been enjoying her retirement in the picturesque town of Mazan in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Then, in 2020, the dark secrets that lay at the heart of the family home finally came to light after Pelicot was caught upskirting women in a local supermarket. More than 20,000 videos and pictures of Gisèle being abused by himself and others were found on the rapist's laptop, stored on a USB drive under files with names that included 'Abuses', 'her rapists', and 'Night alone'.
Sickeningly, another file named "Around my daughter, naked" contained images of their daughter Caroline Darian, who "screamed like a wild beast" when discovering what her father had done to her mother. While many women would understandably crumble in the face of such unimaginable horrors, mother-of-three Gisèle appeared as a true pillar of strength in court. There, she waived her right to anonymity to show how "shame must change sides," inspiring women the world over. And one particularly brave gesture went relatively unnoticed.
