After a three-month trial in France that captured national and global attention, judges have sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison—the maximum allowed under French law—for routinely drugging and raping his wife, Gisele Pelicot, as well as inviting dozens of other men he found online to rape her as well. The court also convicted the 50 other defendants, most on rape charges. (Washington Post)
Our Take
When the details of the Pelicot case came to light, they shocked France and the world, in part because of the horrific nature of the crimes committed, but also because of who committed those crimes. The French news media dubbed the dozens of defendants Monsieur Tout-le-monde, or Mr. Everyman, because of how unremarkable and commonplace they all appeared. And the fact that they varied so widely in age, class, career and appearance was a clear reminder of the dangers of relying on stereotypes or preconceived notions about the perpetrators of sexual violence.
Within France, the case has also forced a broad reckoning with sexual violence against women. Despite attempts by activists to force the issue in the late 2010s, the #MeToo movement did not gain the same level of traction in France as it did in the United States. Soon after, a spike in the number of femicides in 2019 put the spotlight on the country’s domestic violence crisis. But while the issue faded from the headlines, the violence continued.