Gisèle Pelicot: Survivor's Unanswered Questions After Husband's Horrific Crimes
In a powerful and deeply personal interview with BBC Newsnight, Gisèle Pelicot, the woman at the heart of France's unprecedented rape trial, has broken her silence, revealing the profound emotional toll of discovering her husband's years of horrific abuse. The 73-year-old survivor described the moment she learned that Dominique Pelicot had repeatedly drugged her into unconsciousness and subjected her to repeated rapes by dozens of men as a "tsunami" that left her "crushed by horror."
A Descent into Unimaginable Horror
The revelation began innocuously enough. Gisèle Pelicot accompanied her husband to a police station in Mazan, southern France, where he was being questioned for secretly filming women's skirts in a supermarket. It was there, away from her husband, that a police officer began a series of increasingly disturbing questions, probing the nature of their marriage and their private life. The officer's solemn warning, "I am about to show you something you won't like," preceded the viewing of two photographs that would shatter Gisèle's reality.
The Shocking Discovery
The images depicted a woman, unrecognisable to Gisèle, lying on a bed as if dead, surrounded by unknown men. These were not isolated incidents; they were among thousands of photos and videos meticulously catalogued by Dominique Pelicot, documenting his wife being drugged and then raped. "I didn't recognise myself," Gisèle recounted, her voice steady but filled with the weight of decades of deception. "This woman was lying on the bed as if she were dead. There are men next to her. I didn't understand who they were. I didn't know them. I'd never met them."
The 'Tsunami' of Realisation
The police informed Gisèle that she had been repeatedly raped by numerous men, many of whom remained unidentified due to her husband's deliberate actions. The immediate advice was to not be alone. Returning home in a daze, the words "Dominique is in custody because he raped me and had me raped" were the first Gisèle uttered, finally finding the language to articulate the unimaginable crimes committed against her. This realisation, she explained, was like an "explosion" within her, a profound shattering of her perceived reality.
Informing Her Children
Perhaps the most gut-wrenching aspect of this ordeal, Gisèle revealed, was informing her three grown-up children – David, Caroline, and Florian – about their father's monstrous actions. She described the phone calls as the "toughest experience of her life." The raw pain of her daughter Caroline's "almost inhuman scream" and her eldest son David's shock are etched in her memory. Her youngest, Florian, immediately inquired about her well-being, sensing her vulnerability. For the children, too, the news was an "explosion," prompting them to later discard family belongings in an attempt to erase their father's presence from their lives.
Waiving Anonymity: A Choice Made
In a move that underscored her determination to confront the truth and seek justice, Gisèle Pelicot chose to waive her legal right to anonymity. This decision, she stated, is something she has never regretted. Standing by as her children purged their home of physical reminders of their father, Gisèle silently acknowledged the complete devastation of her life and the perceived loss of everything she had. Her memoir, "A Hymn To Life," due to be published soon, promises to offer further insight into her journey of survival and resilience.
Lingering Questions for 'Mr. Pelicot'
Despite her ex-husband, referred to as "Mr. Pelicot," serving a 20-year prison sentence, Gisèle Pelicot confesses that she still harbours unanswered questions. The scale of the betrayal and the calculated nature of the crimes leave a void that even legal retribution cannot fully fill. While the immediate horror has subsided, replaced by a profound sense of loss and a determined will to live, the need for complete understanding, for answers that may never come, remains a poignant aspect of her ongoing healing process. Her story is a testament to the strength of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity.
The interview with Gisèle Pelicot was conducted by Victoria Derbyshire and Laura Gozzi for BBC Newsnight. Her memoir, "A Hymn To Life," is expected to be published on 14 February 2026.
