Gisele Pelicot, the French woman drugged and raped by her ex-husband and dozens of strangers has described the case as one of ‘cowardice’. She used her final statement at the trial to challenge French society to change its attitude to rape.
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00:00With her son by her side, Giselle Pellicot makes the well-trodden path into court.
00:10She tells reporters this is the final stretch.
00:14The 71-year-old has listened to 10 weeks of harrowing evidence.
00:18This was her final say.
00:20For me, this is the trial of cowardice.
00:24It is time for society to look at this macho, patriarchal society and change the way it
00:29looks at rape.
00:31The court's been told disturbing details of how her ex-husband Dominique drugged and
00:36raped her and invited dozens of strangers to do the same for almost 10 years.
00:44I told him we should not leave this hearing without him having said exactly the reasons
00:49why he acted like that against his wife.
00:52Ms Pellicot only learned of the abuse four years ago, after police arrested her husband
00:57for upskirting women, then discovered hours of video of him and others abusing his wife
01:03at the family home.
01:05Dominique Pellicot told the court he was sexually abused as a child, but said it didn't excuse
01:11anything.
01:12For the first time, he offered a motive, that he wanted to control women.
01:17He also denied touching his daughter Caroline, prompting her to shout across the courtroom,
01:23you are lying, you will die lying.
01:26The trial has sparked a nationwide debate on whether France's rape laws do enough to
01:31protect victims.
01:33The court is expected to deliver its verdict and sentences by late December.