AVIGNON, France (AP) 鈥 They are, on the face of it, the most ordinary of men. Yet they鈥檙e all on trial charged with rape. Fathers, grandfathers, husbands, workers and retirees 鈥 50 in all 鈥 accused of taking turns on the drugged and inert body of Gis猫le Pelicot while her husband recorded the horror for his swelling private video library.
The in France is exposing how pornography, chatrooms and men鈥檚 disdain for or hazy understanding of consent is . The horror isn鈥檛 simply that Dominique Pelicot, in his own words, arranged for men to rape his wife, it鈥檚 that he also had to take part.
Among the nearly two dozen defendants who testified during the trial's first seven weeks was Ahmed T. 鈥 French defendants鈥 full last names are generally withheld until conviction. The married plumber with three kids and five grandchildren said he wasn鈥檛 particularly alarmed that Pelicot wasn't moving when he visited her and her now-ex-husband's house in the small Provence town of Mazan in 2019.
It reminded him of porn he had watched featuring women who 鈥減retend to be asleep and don鈥檛 react,鈥 he said.
Like him, many other defendants told the court that they couldn鈥檛 have imagined that Dominique Pelicot was drugging his wife, and that they were told she was a willing participant acting out a kinky fantasy. Dominique Pelicot denied this, telling the court his co-defendants .
C茅line Piques, a spokesperson of the feminist group Osez le F茅minisme!, or Dare Feminism! said she's convinced that many of the men on trial were inspired or perverted by porn, including videos found on popular websites. Although some sites have started cracking down on search terms such as 鈥渦nconscious,鈥 hundreds of videos of men having sex with seemingly passed out women can be found online, she said.
Piques was particularly struck by the testimony of a tech expert at the trial who had found the search terms 鈥渁sleep porn鈥 on Dominique Pelicot's computer.
Last year, French authorities registered 114,000 victims of sexual violence, including more than 25,000 reported rapes. But experts say most rapes go unreported due to a lack of tangible evidence: About 80% of women don鈥檛 press charges, and 80% of the ones who do see their case dropped before it is investigated.
In stark contrast, the trial of Dominique Pelicot and his 50 co-defendants has been unique in its scope, nature and openness to the public at the victim鈥檚 insistence.
After a store security guard caught Pelicot shooting video up unsuspecting women鈥檚 skirts in 2020, police searched his home and found thousands of pornographic photos and videos on his phone, laptop and USB stick. Dominique Pelicot later said he had recorded and stored the sexual encounters of each of his guests, and neatly organized them in separate files.
Among those he had over was Mahdi D., who testified that when he left home on the night of Oct. 5, 2018, he didn鈥檛 intend to rape anyone.
鈥淚 thought she was asleep,鈥 the 36-year-old transportation worker told the panel of five judges, referring to Gis猫le Pelicot, who has attended nearly every day of the trial and has become a hero to many sexual abuse victims for insisting that it be public.
鈥淚 grant you that you did not leave with the intention of raping anyone,鈥 the prosecutor told him. 鈥淏ut there in the room, it was you.鈥
Like a few of the other men accused of raping Pelicot between 2011 and 2020, Mahdi D. acknowledged almost all of the facts presented against him. And he expressed remorse, telling the judges, 鈥淪he is a victim. We can鈥檛 imagine what she went through. She was destroyed.鈥
But he wouldn鈥檛 call it rape, even if admitting that it was might get him a lighter sentence. That led prosecutors to ask the court to screen the graphic videos of Mahdi D.'s visit to the Pelicot home.
In June, authorities took down the chatroom where they say Dominique Pelicot and his co-defendants met. Since the trial started on Sept. 2, it has resonated far beyond the Avignon courtroom's walls, sparking big and small and inspiring a steady flow of opinion pieces and open letters penned by journalists, philosophers and activists.
It has also drawn curious visitors to the city in southeastern France, such as Florence Nack, her husband and 23-year-old daughter, who made the trip from Switzerland to witness the 鈥渉istorical trial.鈥
Nack, who noted that she, too, was a victim of sexual violence, said she was disturbed by the testimony of 43-year-old trucker Cyprien C., a defendant who spoke that day in court.
Asked by the head judge, Roger Arata, whether he recognized the facts, Cyprien C. answered that he 鈥渄id not contest the sexual act.鈥
鈥淎nd the rape?鈥 Arata pressed. The defendant stood silently before eventually responding, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 answer.鈥
Arata then began to describe what was on the videos implicating him. They are only shown as a last resource and on a case-by-case basis. But for many in the courtroom, such detailed descriptions can last several minutes and be just as heavy as watching them. Gis猫le Pelicot, who is in her early 70s, has chosen to remain in the courtroom while the videos are shown. Unable to watch, she usually closes her eyes, stares at the floor, or buries her face in her hands.
Experts and groups working to combat sexual violence say the defendants鈥 unwillingness or inability to admit to rape speaks loudly to taboos and stereotypes that persist in French society.
For Magali Lafourcade, a judge and general secretary of the 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Consultative Commission of Human Rights who isn鈥檛 involved in the trial, popular culture has given people the wrong idea about what rapists look like and how they operate.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the idea of a hooded man with a knife whom you don鈥檛 know and is waiting for you in a place that is not a private place,鈥 she said, noting that this 鈥渋s miles away from the sociological, criminological reality of rape.鈥
Two-thirds of rapes take place at private homes, and in a vast majority of cases, victims know their rapists, Lafourcade said.
It can be difficult at times to reconcile the facts with the personalities of the accused 鈥 described by loved ones as loving, generous and considerate companions, brothers and fathers.
Cyril B.鈥檚 tearful older sister told the court: 鈥淚t鈥檚 my brother, I love him. He鈥檚 not a mean person.鈥 His partner described him as 鈥渒ind, his heart on his sleeve and full of attention.鈥 She insisted that he isn鈥檛 鈥渕acho鈥 and that he had never forced her to do anything sexually that she wasn鈥檛 comfortable with.
Although Lafourcade does not believe 鈥渁ll men are rapists,鈥 as some have concluded the trial shows, she said that unlike the #MeToo accusations that have ensnared French celebrities, the Pelicot case 鈥渕akes us understand that in fact rapists could be everyone.鈥
鈥淔or once, they鈥檙e not monsters 鈥 they鈥檙e not serial killers on the margin of society. They are men who resemble those we love,鈥 she said. 鈥淚n this sense, there is something revolutionary.鈥
