'Chemical submission': France shocked by Pelicot drug-facilitated rape case
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00:00Now, a gruesome court case continues in the city of Avignon in the south of France,
00:05involving a man accused of orchestrating multiple rapes of his wife by strangers over the course of
00:11years. Dominique P has admitted to the charges, including drugging his wife. He was exposed by
00:17chance after being caught filming up women's skirts at a local supermarket. Today, his wife,
00:22known as Giselle P, is taking the stand and she has insisted that the trial take place
00:27in public so the truth comes out. For more on this story, we can bring in Solange Mougin.
00:32Solange, it's rare for a trial like this to be held in open court, isn't it?
00:37Yeah, it is. And it's really a testament to the courage of the victim, Giselle Pellicot.
00:42And she and her lawyers specifically requested and fought for the trial to be open, for her name to
00:48be used, for journalists in the world to bear witness to what happened to her and her family.
00:53Now, in court on the stand today, she said she's doing this, quote, in the name of all the women
00:58who won't be recognized or perhaps won't be recognized as victims with an open trial. Her
01:04lawyers, well, they say that she wants to, quote, the shame to shift sides. And it is indeed quite
01:10rare to stand up publicly with such stoicism in the face of such horrors that happened to her and
01:17her family. In this regard, she said today in the over one hour, one and a half hours of testimony,
01:24quote, my facade may seem strong, but inside I am a field of ruins.
01:31Solange, what exactly is this trial about?
01:33Well, it's simply one horror after another. Giselle Pellicot's husband, Dominique Pellicot,
01:39is accused of drugging her with sleeping pills between 2011 and 2020, in addition
01:46to repeatedly raping her. While she was unconscious, he recruited strangers online
01:52to rape her as well. He admitted his guilt over the charges against him. And in total,
01:57there are some 50 other men on trial for abusing and raping her. Now, 18 are in custody, while 32
02:04others are free while awaiting the verdict. They are men of all walks of life. Many have families,
02:11for example. Now, how the abuse came to light is also quite staggering, as you just mentioned.
02:16In 2020, Dominique Pellicot was caught and accused by three women in a grocery store trying to film
02:23up their skirts. He was arrested. And that's when police found on his electronic devices
02:29some 300 photographs and a video of an unconscious woman being assaulted by multiple men. Now, in
02:36total, police would find 4,000 videos and photos in a folder entitled Abus, or Abuse.
02:43They also found evidence of how he would invite men to rape his wife on a chat forum called
02:49À son insu, or Without Her Knowledge. And indeed, on the stand today, Giselle Pellicot described
02:55how her world simply fell apart on the 2nd of November 2020, when police officers, they showed
03:01her images of herself unconscious, being raped repeatedly. Quote, I was warm, but my body was
03:07like a dead person, she said in her testimony. She also said that police saved her life by looking
03:13through that computer. Solange, this trial has, of course, rocked France, but it's also garnered a
03:20lot of attention around the world. Has it raised awareness or attention about rape and the use of
03:26chemical substances? Well, I think Giselle Pellicot's decision to publicly come forward,
03:32as well as her daughter's book and work in this regard, well, they've helped push to the forefront
03:37of people's minds the risks of chemical submission of rape in France, but also worldwide. Now, in
03:44regard to France, the latest numbers that we have on chemical submission are from 2021. They are
03:50thought to be much smaller, these numbers are thought to be much smaller than the actual number
03:56of victims, but three years ago, there were 721 official reports of chemical submission. Only 82
04:05would be backed up by toxicology reports. Now, what's interesting here, too, is that while
04:10most of the drugs used, if you put them all together, they are often medicine, like benzos,
04:16valiums, opioids, sleeping pills, but there has also been a big jump of the use of recreational
04:22substances, which you see there, the 44%. Most of the cases happen to women. Men can also be
04:29victims of this as well. Advocates say that there are some key red flags to look out for, nausea,
04:35vertigo, amnesia, confusion, falling asleep suddenly. They say that if you have doubts,
04:40it's best to keep the possibly incriminating food or drink if you can, but also to get your hair
04:45tested as traces remain longer in your hair. Now, beyond the risk of a chemical submission,
04:51this court case has also raised questions about whether doctors are trained well enough to spot
04:55such abuses, as Giselle Perico spent years wondering about her gynecological problems
05:02and her absences. It's also raised questions about whether France's laws can better protect
05:06rape victims by adding or not, it's a big debate that's going on in France, the word consent to
05:13the legal definition of rape. It's rare. We have, we hear a lot of horrific stories as journalists.
05:19This makes your, this story makes your jaw drop and not in a good way. And this woman is so brave,
05:24given all she went through for years. Thank you very much for explaining the story in detail to
05:30us here Solange. Thank you.