Gisèle Pelicot is considered by many to be an icon of feminism after she appeared publicly as a victim of sexual violence.Image: keystone
02/12/2026, 10:4302/12/2026, 10:43
In 2024, Gisèle Pelicot came into international focus when she made her personal story public and thereby shaped the debate about how society deals with sexual violence.
Her husband had secretly drugged her for years and offered her to men to rape. Pelicot chose to appear publicly at the trial and forego anonymity. In doing so, she wanted to place responsibility clearly on the perpetrators.
On Wednesday, the 73-year-old gave her first television interview to the French public broadcaster France 5. Five statements from the conversation particularly stand out.
“I saw a strange woman lying there soulless”
Pelicot describes her horror when she realized she had been raped for years. At first she didn’t recognize herself in the recordings that investigators showed her. “That’s not me,” she said. “I saw a strange woman lying there unconscious, soulless.” She believes her brain “lost control for a short time.”
The 73-year-old continues:
“My brain couldn’t figure out that it was me. It wasn’t until four or five hours later that I finally came to the realization that I had been raped by my husband and a lot of other men without my knowledge. Again and again.”
« The soumission chimique is a tool for violence and this violence is a tool for domination masculine »
Pour La Grande Librairie, Gisèle Pelicot revient sur les viols qu’elle a subis par la soumission chimique. pic.twitter.com/pbZXqwFhin
— France TV (@FranceTV) February 11, 2026
“I want to visit him in prison”
Despite the actions of her then husband Dominique Pelicot – from whom she has been divorced since 2024 – she wants to visit him in prison. This is part of her healing process.
During the court case, Pelicot never spoke to her husband directly, she said. But now she wants to look him “directly in the eyes and ask him: ‘Why did you do that?’”
However, Pelicot does not feel any hatred for her ex-husband. Although she describes feelings of betrayal and outrage in the interview, she also wants to hold on to happy memories. These are all that is left in her life. “You can’t throw your whole life in the trash. We also had good moments together,” she explains.
“They didn’t choose their father.”
Pelicot also talked about her children in the interview with France 5. It is wrong to believe that “a tragedy can bring a family together,” she says.
The relationship with her daughter Caroline is slowly healing. But her son David still needs time. The 73-year-old explains:
«I have decided to live with Mr. Pelicot. They didn’t choose their father, so they’re in a different situation and I think the journey will take longer.”
“I am neither depressed nor suicidal”
Despite everything Pelicot has been through, unlike many other rape victims, she is neither depressed nor suicidal.
She says she discovered unexpected powers within herself and even found her joy in life again. She wants to encourage other women:
«Being here tonight means that I am strong as a woman today. There is always a tendency to say that the victim must be a ‘good’ victim. That means depressed, suicidal. I want to show that this book (Editor’s note: Pelicot is releasing her memoirs in February) is a message of hope for all women who are going through very difficult times in their lives. We all have the necessary resources within us that we often don’t suspect.”
“Getting to know Jean-Loup was incredible”
Pelicot also reports on a new love in the television interview.
Actually, she could never imagine falling in love again – let alone wanting it. In 2023, however, she met a man whom she introduces as Jean-Loup. “Getting to know him was incredible,” she says. “I met this man who was also going through difficult times and it changed our lives.”
(hkl)