‘Gisèle is waiting for explanations’: the dark questions at the heart of the Pelicot trial

The evidence heard in court has horrified the world. But as the trial comes to an end, the questions it has raised about ‘ordinary’ men, French society, and rape culture have still not been answered

In the four years after she discovered her husband had been drugging her and inviting strangers into their home to rape her, Gisèle Pelicot liked to walk to clear her head.

Striding through the countryside alone, she would throw the questions that tormented her to the wind: “Dominique, how could you have done it? Why did you do it? How did we get here?” Asked what she was doing when she was disappearing for hours, she would tell her three children: “I am talking to your father.”

Topics

Women's right activists rally in France ahead of Gisèle Pelicot's rape trial verdict

Hundreds of people have gathered in the southern French town of Avignon ahead of the verdict in a mass-rape trial in which dozens of men stand accused
ABC News - 5h
The Gold Rush at the Heart of a Civil War

Famine and ethnic cleansing stalk Sudan. Yet the gold trade is booming, enriching generals and propelling the fight.
The New York Times - 2d
The 50 men accused in mass rape of Gisèle Pelicot

The men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot have been dubbed Monsieur-Tout-Le-Monde as they broadly represent a microcosm of French society.
BBC News - 3d
Gisèle Pelicot lifts her sunglasses and chooses to fight back

The woman at the centre of the mass rape case sees her public trial as a chance to "stand for all victims".
BBC News - 5d
Why Soccer Players Are Training in the Dark

Sports science company Okkulo has shown that its specially lit training environment can improve players’ visual-motor skills—and a growing number of sports are starting to test it out.
Wired - Dec. 6
Ex-Proud Boys Leader dodges questions at trial of officer charged with feeding him intel

WASHINGTON — Former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, who is serving 22 years in prison on charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, sparred with a federal prosecutor and a judge and refused ...
NBC News - Dec. 5
Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer: ‘This level of depravity? I have never seen anything like it’

Stéphane Babonneau had to watch thousands of videos of Gisèle Pelicot being raped, before disclosing their horror to her. He explains how she found the courage to cope – and to change the world for ...
The Guardian - Dec. 3
Stephen A. Smith slams Biden for 'weak, pathetic explanation' of Hunter pardon

Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith criticized President Biden for the way he explained his decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden's gun and tax charges. While Smith seemed to understand why ...
The Hill - Dec. 3
The Revolutionary Sound at the Heart of ‘The Nutcracker’

Listen to how Tchaikovsky uses the celesta in “The Nutcracker,” unleashing the potential of the instrument to signal playfulness and fantasy.
The New York Times - Dec. 3