Last episode of the series on the moments that marked French news in 2024. The verdict of a historic trial, that of the Mazan rapes, was delivered a few days ago: 20 years in prison for Dominique Pélicot, accused of having drugged, raped and had his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, raped by more than fifty men he recruited on the internet. Fifty men whose sentences range from 3 to 15 years in prison. A trial that will be a landmark in France, while the personality of Gisèle Pelicot gave it international impact when she refused from the start to go behind closed doors. What could the trial change in terms of the many expectations of feminist associations?
Return to the Avignon court. It is December 19, 2024, a few minutes after the verdict was announced. “ By opening the doors to this trial on September 2, I wanted society to be able to understand the debates that took place there. I never regretted this decision », says Gisèle Pelicot.
Applause and bravos are chanted by the crowd present. “ We shouted thank you Gisèle with all our souls. And we say thank you 1 000 times », Explains a woman who came to listen to the victim at the end of the trial. Ovationed and thanked as she left the courtGisèle Pelicot, makes her way between the cameras and the microphones.
The verdict may not satisfy feminist activists, but they all recognize a major step forward, made possible thanks to the lifting of the closed session, according to the choice of Gisèle Pelicot. “ Women who accuse attackers of rape testify openly. That’s a big step forward, because until then, it was words against words. But there, we saw actions, we saw attacks. We saw what rape was, what some women suffered », confides an activist.
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The Mazan rapes, a before and an after?
A start of awareness, which should benefit victims of sexual violence for Juliette. And it is up to justice to take its part: “ How we welcome people who are victims of gender-based and sexual violence ? How we can protect them ? How can we ensure that the court is not a double punishment and that it is not super traumatic ? That’s why I’m here today. »
But beyond justice, it is up to society as a whole to evolve, considers Léa. She would like to say that the Mazan rape trial will create a before and after, but she is not sure. She asks: “ What will be done behind ? How we will succeed in systemically changing what is happening ? How will we succeed in putting in place mechanisms that will allow young people to understand that things cannot continue like this? »
Juliette provides the beginning of an answer: “ We need to rethink the way we educate boys. We need to rethink the question of consent. How sexuality is treated at school from childhood ? »
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Many expectations on many levels
On the one hand, there are social and legal expectations, numerous after this trial. On the other, the achievements that must be preserved at all costs for Juliette: “ I hope we retain the sorority. I hope that we will remember that women, they are there, they are present. They are angry. I hope that we will remember Gisèle’s courage, but Gisèle’s courage is also the courage of all women, even those who don’t.. »
To maintain this hope, we must continue the fight led by Gisèle Pelicot, concludes Muriel: “ She said no. And she actually refused to allow this trial to take place behind closed doors. And so, I think that all the same, it opened a breach. And for us, somewhere, it also reassured us in the idea that we had to continue our struggles and that in any case, together, we will get there.. »
Also readMacron says “thank you” to Gisèle Pelicot “for women, who will forever have a scout to speak and fight”
“One two threeintones a group of women. Let us stand up, angry women, and break all these cages. Stand up, stand up, stand up… Stand up, stand up, stand up… »
Also readMazan rape trial: appeals announced, Gisèle Pelicot “ready” to face a second trial