Gisèle Pelicot

Gisèle Pelicot is the French woman at the centre of the Mazan mass rape case. From 2011 to 2020, her husband, Dominique Pelicot, covertly drugged and raped her and also invited men he had contacted on the internet to rape her while she was unconscious. Pelicot only became aware of the abuse in 2020, when her husband was arrested for upskirting women in a local supermarket and a police search of his computer equipment revealed images of her being raped. When her husband and 50 other men went on trial for aggravated rape in Avignon in 2024, Pelicot waived her right to anonymity and a trial behind closed doors. The trial attracted worldwide media attention and Pelicot's dignity and determination to speak out on behalf of all victims of sexual assault won her widespread support and admiration. She became a feminist icon and featured in the BBC's 2024 list of 100 women of the year and the Financial Times list of the 25 most influential women of the year.