By Magdalena Tsanis
Madrid, Mar 3 (EFE).- At 73, Gisèle Pelicot rejects the label of heroine. Yet after exposing one of the most shocking cases of sexual violence in recent French history, she has become a symbol of courage and legal reform.
“I am not a heroine,” said in Madrid. “But I have awakened consciences.”
As a young woman, Pelicot dreamed simply of starting a family. Feminism felt distant from her life. Today, however, she believes she has contributed “her grain of sand” to the movement.
She spoke to a small group of media outlets, including EFE, at the residence of the French ambassador in Madrid.
Pelicot, who has received the Legion of Honor in France and was decorated by the Spanish government for her fight against sexual violence, reflected on the pivotal moment in 2024 when she insisted that her trial be held in public, a decision that transformed her into an international icon.
“I realized it concerned many other women,” she said. “I could never have imagined something like this. I thought I was the only one who had suffered that kind of violence.”
For nearly a decade, her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, allegedly drugged her so that dozens of men could rape her while he recorded the assaults.
The case emerged in 2022, when he was arrested for secretly filming women under their skirts in a supermarket. Two years later, he and 50 other men were convicted in a public trial.
Pelicot has now decided to tell her story in a book that aims to offer hope. “We have resources within ourselves that we cannot imagine,” she said. “I thought my life was collapsing, that I had lost everything. But I was reborn from my ashes.”
She recalls wondering since adolescence what her role in the world might be. On Sep.2, 2024, when she opposed holding the trial behind closed doors, she felt she had found the answer.
“Perhaps a woman’s voice was needed to denounce all the sexual violence that women have not dared to speak about.”
Throughout the proceedings, she struggled with shame, but determined that it should no longer belong to victims.
“I suffered that shame during the trial, and I convinced myself that it had to change sides,” she said, echoing a phrase she adopted during the hearings and attributed to the late French lawyer Gisèle Halimi, who helped drive legislative change in France in 1978.
‘Spain Has Been an Example for France’
Her case has also had legal repercussions. In October 2025, France reformed its penal code to include a clearer definition of sexual consent, closely following Spain’s precedent, something acknowledged publicly by French Ambassador Kareen Rispal during the presentation of Pelicot’s book.
“Spain has been an example for France,” Pelicot insisted. She said she felt “honored” to be decorated at the Palacio de la Moncloa, the official residence of the Spanish prime minister.
“It is an honor to be received in your country, which has been so committed to the fight against violence against women,” she said. “I also feel a responsibility, because you moved ahead of France, where the consent law was passed later.”
Asked where she draws her strength from, Pelicot traces it back to childhood. She was nine when she lost her mother and witnessed her father’s grief.
“Even then, I knew I would not be like other girls, that I had to grow up faster. That gave me strength.”
She does not believe there is a universal formula for resilience. “We all face suffering differently,” she said. “I have always thought I was stronger than others, even though there were very difficult moments.”
Moving to the Île de Ré, where she now lives, and embracing periods of solitude proved essential. “The sea, the forest, long walks, music, chocolate, and accepting help,” she said.
“I was not alone. Friends and psychologists supported me. That is essential; you cannot do it alone.”
What continues to affect her most is that none of the men involved showed compassion. For that reason, she refuses to reduce the case to the idea of her ex-husband as “a monster.”
“It is necessary to question certain male behaviors,” she stressed, while avoiding sweeping generalizations. “I hope this book encourages everyone, men and women, to reflect on how we can live together in harmony.” EFE
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