On July 14, amidst Bastille Day celebrations, Gisèle Pelicot was awarded France's highest civilian honor when she was named a knight of the Legion of Honor.
The occasion marked one year since Pelicot had been catapulted into the public eye after testifying in a landmark sexual assault case. The trial revealed a shocking truth: For over a decade, she had been drugged and raped by her husband and more than 50 other men.
After a three-month trial, the men were sentenced to a total of 428 years in prison.
“I wanted all women victims of rape — not just when they have been drugged, rape exists at all levels — I want those women to say, ‘Madame Pelicot did it, we can do it too,” she told the court. “I say it is not bravery, it is will and determination to change society.”
Her testimony has resulted in accolades, waving banners, and fireworks in her honor. But defense attorney Anne Bouillon — who specializes in representing survivors of abuse — said it means little to Pelicot, who continues fighting for reproductive rights and gender violence reform.
“She does not want medals pinned on her jacket,” Bouillon told Time magazine in February. “She wants things to change.”
On February 11, Pelicot sat down with France 5 for her first televised interview since the trial.
In it, Pelicot talked about “red flags” that surfaced later as she gained clarity and talked about the importance of a woman’s intuition.
She also expressed that she intends to visit her ex-husband in prison one day as part of her “healing process.”
Pelicot recalled that during the trial itself, she never addressed him directly. Now, she wants “to look him directly in the eye and ask him, ‘Why did you do that?’”
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2025 Helpers Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
Header image via Amrei-Marie (CC BY-SA 4.0)
