A judge in France found Gisèle Pelicot’s former husband on Thursday approved to drugging and raping her repeatedly over the course of nearly a decade and encouraging dozens of other men to also attack her because they were guilty of aggravated rape. He was given the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

During her trial, Pelicot insisted that her full name be published and shared with the court Proceedings are made public – was praised for her courage and became a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France and around the world.

Roger Arata, the senior judge at the court in Avignon, southeastern France, then read out the verdicts for 49 other men who were also accused of raping Pelicot at her husband’s invitation, and for another accused of aggravated sexual assault. All men were found guilty, but one had his conviction reduced from rape to sexual assault.

When Pelicot arrived at court Thursday, she was greeted by crowds holding signs that read, “Thank you for your courage.” She and her daughters sat in the courtroom with their heads leaning against the wall as the verdicts were read, CBS News affiliate network BBC News reported.

The trial began on September 2nd and Pelicot faced her almost every day former husbandDominique or any of the 50 other men charged with assaulting her. She insisted that videos submitted as evidence made by her ex-husband showing men attacking her while she appeared to be unconscious were shown in court.

Dominique Pelicot was also found guilty of attempted aggravated rape of a woman named Cillia, the wife of another man, Jean Pierre Marechal, who was one of the co-defendants, and also of taking indecent images of his daughter Caroline and his daughters-in-law Celine and Aurore, reported BBC News. According to the BBC, he showed no emotion during the reading of the verdicts in court.

The attacks occurred between 2011 and 2020, when Dominique Pelicot was taken into custody. Police found thousands of photos and videos of the abuse on his computer drives, which led them to other suspects. Some of the men told the court they believed the unconscious woman agreed or that her husband’s permission was enough.

“Gisèle Pelicot believes that this shock wave is necessary so that no one can say afterwards: ‘I didn’t know it was a rape,'” her lawyer Stéphane Babonneau told The Associated Press.

“It’s not our job to be ashamed – it’s their job,” Pelicot said during the trial, referring to the attackers. “Above all, I express my will and determination to change this society.”

Controversial French laws

Pelicot’s case sparked protests across France, with some protesters hoping the case could lead to changes to France’s controversial sexual consent laws.

France introduced a legal age of sexual consent in 2021 after public outcry over the rape of an 11-year-old student by a man who was originally convicted of a lesser charge. Since then, sex with anyone under 15 has been considered non-consensual, but French law does not require consent for older victims.

French law defines rape as penetration or oral sex using “force, coercion, threat or surprise” without taking consent into account, according to Reuters news agency. Prosecutors must therefore prove an intent to rape to succeed in court, legal experts told Reuters.

According to a study by the Institute of Public Policies, only 14% of rape allegations in France result in formal investigations.

“Why can’t we get convictions? The first reason is the law,” legal expert Catherine Le Magueresse told Reuters. “The law is written in such a way that victims must conform to the stereotype of a ‘good victim’ and a ‘real rape’: an unknown assailant, use of force and the victim’s resistance. But that only applies to a minority of rape cases.”

“I’m trying to understand”

During the trial, Pelicot, 72, spoke in court about how she believed she had a loving marriage with her husband and never thought he was drugging her.

“We drank a glass of white wine together. “I never found anything strange about my potatoes,” Pelicot told the court.

“We have finished eating. When there’s a football game on TV, I often let him watch alone. He is a love.’”

She said she didn’t feel like she was drugged.

“I never felt my heart fluttering. I didn’t feel anything. I must have gone down very quickly. “I always woke up in my pajamas,” Pelicot told the court, adding that she sometimes woke up “more tired than usual,” but I run a lot and thought that was it.

“I’m trying to understand,” she said, “how this husband, who was the perfect man, could have come to this.”

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