On November 2, 2020, Gisèle Pelicot’s world turned upside down when she walked into a police station in Carpentras, southern France, believing she was accompanying her now ex-husband, Dominique, over a minor incident. Within minutes, an officer, Laurent Perret, showed her photographs that dismantled nearly five decades of their marriage.
- Gisèle Pelicot learned of a decade of ab*se only after her husband was arrested for a supermarket voyeurism incident in 2020.
- Police discovered thousands of videos on a hard drive labeled “abse,” documenting asaults by 51 different men.
- Dominique Pelicot systematically drugged Gisèle for nine years, leaving her in a state equivalent to general anesthesia.
- Gisèle waived her right to a private trial to ensure society became a witness and that “shame changed sides.”
On February 10, 2026, the French newspaper, Le Monde, published some extracts from Pelicot’s forthcoming memoir, A Hymn to Life.
She described how police revealed that Dominique had been drgging her for years and inviting strangers to rpe her while she was unconscious in their home in Mazan, Provence.
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of sxual asault.
Gisèle Pelicot considered her ex-husband Dominique a “great guy” before learning how he had been drgging and rping her for years
Gisèle Pelicot with reddish hair, wearing a pink shirt, showing a serious expression during a candid indoor moment.
In September 2020, Dominique Pelicot was detained after being caught secretly filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket.
While examining his phone and electronic devices, investigators discovered thousands of photos and videos showing Gisèle unconscious in their bedroom with different men.
At the police station, Perret warned her, “I am going to show you photos and videos that are not going to please you. That’s you in this photo.”
She did not immediately recognize herself. “I didn’t recognize the individuals. Nor this woman,” she later wrote in her memoir. “Her cheek was so flabby. Her mouth so limp. She was a rag doll .”
Gisèle Pelicot sharing her experience learning about her husband’s exploitation involving multiple men in an emotional interview.
Gisèle, who considered Dominique a “great guy,” questioned whether it was truly her. Perret pointed out details of the room.
“This is your room, Mrs. Pelicot. These are your bedside lamps. We searched your home. These are your belongings.”
She further described the moment as mental paralysis, adding, “My brain stopped working in the office of Deputy Police Sergeant Perret.” Officers told her that her husband was in custody and that she had been r*ped “ many times. ”
By that time, dozens of men had already been identified through the videos .
The 73-year-old was aused and rped for nearly a decade inside their home in Mazan
Gisèle Pelicot looking somber surrounded by lawyers and supporters during a legal proceeding about exploitation allegations.
In 2024, court proceedings in Avignon established that between 2011 and 2020, Dominique crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication into his wife’s mashed potatoes, ice cream, and coffee.
Toxicology experts later identified that she was left in a state similar to general anesthesia .
While she remained unconscious, Dominique invited men he contacted through online chatrooms, including one titled “without her knowledge,” to come to their home and r*pe her.
He filmed and catalogued the asaults on a hard drive in a file labeled “ause.”
Tweet praising an extraordinary woman advocating social justice, suggesting she deserves a Nobel Prize for her efforts.
Screenshot of a tweet sharing condolences for Gisèle Pelicot regarding exploitation by her husband alongside 50 men.
It was discovered that a total of 51 men, aged between 26 and 74, were found guilty in December 2024. Dominique was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while forty-seven men were convicted of rpe, two of attempted rpe, and two of sxual asault.
During the trial, some defendants claimed they believed the acts were consensual.
“I didn’t wake up one morning and say to myself, ‘hey, today I’m going to commit a crime,’” one said. Another argued he did not understand consent at the time.
Gisèle Pelicot speaking about discovering exploitation by her husband alongside 50 men in an emotional interview setting.
However, Gisèle rejected those arguments during subsequent appeal hearings in Nîmes in October 2025, stating, “This is not a sx scene, it is rpe. And without a c*ndom.”
She added directly to one defendant, “When did I ever give you consent ? Never.”
Her decision to make the trial public became central to the case’s impact.
Gisèle Pelicot decided to waive her right to anonymity as she wanted the public to be a witness to the case
I sat down with Gisele Pelicot for almost 3 hours in Paris. This Saturday, the first American interview @nytimes . An astonishing and deeply moving conversation. pic.twitter.com/7oB2VjQ7lz — Lulu NYT (@LuluGNavarro) February 10, 2026
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