"Today I am known around the world, whether I like it or not. People will remember Madame Pelicot, much less Monsieur Pelicot." Those were among the final words of Gisele Pelicot as she testified for what may be the last time at the trial of her former husband and 50 other men who are accused of raping her while she was unconscious over a decade-long period. Pelicot took the stand for the third time Tuesday as the trial winds toward a conclusion in France, the Telegraph reports. Pelicot's rare choice to hold the trial publicly has made the 71-year-old a "feminist hero," the New York Times reports.
Many of the men accused of being involved in the mass rapes have either denied involvement or told the court they didn't realize they were raping Pelicot, saying her husband manipulated them. "It is time for society to look at this macho, patriarchal society and change the way it looks at rape," she said Tuesday, per CNN. "This is a trial of cowardice." Of her decision not to ask France to hold the trial behind closed doors, as she was entitled to do, she said, "I knew what I was signing up for when I gave up the right to a closed trial ... I admit that today I can feel the tiredness." The couple's children also testified, calling for their father to be punished. Verdicts and sentences are expected in the trial no later than Dec. 20. (More Gisele Pelicot stories.)
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