I find myself gazing at a vivid photograph of a woman with striking auburn hair making her way into the courthouse in Avignon. Her lawyers flank her, their faces betraying no emotion.
This woman stands on the cusp of hearing the verdict. What punishment awaits the man who drugged and violated her so mercilessly?
As the news spreads globally, the sentence is revealed: 20 years. But I can’t help but wonder how this figure registers with her. What restitution is there for a woman who has lost so much, with no restoration in sight?
What does a number like this signify when everything feels lost?
The perpetrator of this crime is none other than the father of her children. As the judge announces the sentences of his partners in crime—his cronies who relished in the same destructive pleasures—Gisèle Pelicot remains expressionless.
Her gaze is unwavering, unflinching. She doesn’t blink.
Her name, Gisèle Pelicot, has traveled far from her small village of Mazan, reaching ears all over the world. It’s a name that inspires others to say, “If Gisèle Pelicot can, I can too.”
She represents all of us.
This morning in Avignon, as on many others, Gisèle faced the eager cameras head-on. She defiantly took up space, hoping her actions might spark changes in our patriarchal society.
To facilitate this change, she met us eye to eye.
Her face, a testament to her strength, mirrors her body.
Her body, which society attempted to erase, reduced to mere nothingness by ordinary men.
Yet Gisèle turned the spotlight onto these men.
They were the ones who trampled through her home, leaving their mark without a thought.
Long ago in southern France—a region so beloved by many—a woman named Gisèle Pelicot lived.
Gisèle always cherished life.
Then, one fateful day over a café au lait, her world crumbled when her husband, symbolic of many, assaulted her. His actions were akin to a cold-blooded serial killer transforming a home into a morgue.
Gisèle led a life filled with simple joys, wrapped around the everyday routines and the demands of parenting.
In the same quaint village in France, her daughter Caroline and her sons grew up. They once called their father “Daddy.”
But for Caroline, that term has been stripped away, never to return. She awaits justice, like many other women.
In this serene village, our hearts ache and break.
The assault on Gisèle is an assault on every woman, on all of us.
Standing beside her, post-verdict, we can now glare back at the world.
With the strength of our united souls, we hope society will rise to meet the incredible resolve that Gisèle Pelicot embodies.
For three decades, I kept silent about my own experiences of sexual assault and rape. Today, the law in France tells me too much time has passed to seek justice for my own pain. Yet, like Gisèle, I speak up for those who remain unheard. My voice joins hers, championing everyone silenced.
