"Rape is rape." Gisèle Pélicot emphatic on the stand Wednesday in a trial that has sent shockwaves beyond France’s borders: the 71-year-old retiree batting away suggestions that the 50 defendants invited by her ex-husband to enter their bedroom when she was under sedation could have engaged in anything in the slightest consensual. 

"Rape is rape." Gisèle Pélicot emphatic on the stand Wednesday in a trial that has sent shockwaves beyond France’s borders: the 71-year-old retiree batting away suggestions that the 50 defendants invited by her ex-husband to enter their bedroom when she was under sedation could have engaged in anything in the slightest consensual. 

Pélicot’s drawn admiration for her decision to waive her right to protection from the public eye and to sit front and center in the courtroom every day since the September 2nd opening of the trial in the southern city of Avignon. 

We will ask about that choice and a case that raises questions about individual guilt and collective responsibility: how many in the picturesque Provence village of Mazan knew? As her mental and physical health deteriorated over the years, it was only when gendarmes investigating a cold case came across lewd photos shared over the Internet that she discovered the horror. 

Why did no one come forward? 

 

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati, Ilayda Habip & Annarosa Zampaglione.