Berliner Tageblatt - French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot to reveal pain and courage in memoirs

Pelicot became a global symbol of courage and the fight against sexual violence in 2024 during the trial of her ex-husband and dozens of men who raped her while she was unconscious.

Her memoirs, titled "A Hymn to Life" and written with French author Judith Perrignon, will be published worldwide in 22 languages next Tuesday.

Extracts published in French in Le Monde newspaper on Tuesday evening revealed her shock when she was first called by police to talk about her ex-husband Dominique, whom she considered "a great guy."

After their 50 years of life together, she recounts her horror as she examines photographs of herself being raped under the influence of sedatives he administered to her.

"I didn't recognise the men. Or this woman. Her cheek was so flabby. Her mouth so limp. She was like a rag doll," she writes, according to the French-language version.

Ahead of her 2024 trial in Avignon, she declined the option of holding it behind closed doors, saying she wanted the world to know what she had been subjected to.

"When I think back to the moment I made my decision, I realise that if I had been 20 years younger, I might not have dared to refuse a closed session," she wrote.

"I would have been afraid of the stares, those damned stares that a woman of my generation has always had to deal with," she added.

In the nearly four-month trial, 51 men, including her husband, were convicted.

The book also chronicles her "vague feelings" before the trial.

"The closer it got, the more I imagined myself becoming a hostage to their stares, their lies, their cowardice, and their contempt," she wrote. "Wasn't I protecting them by closing the door?"

Veteran British actress Emma Thompson is set to narrate the audiobook in English.

In a post on Instagram, she said the "absolutely extraordinary" story was "difficult to read out loud" but that it "inspires courage and compassion but also crucially demands change".

With her brown bobbed haircut and round sunglasses, Pelicot has become an international icon and has inspired a change to France rape laws.

The fall-out from the trial has caused a split with her daughter Caroline Darian, however, who suspects Dominique Pelicot also abused her. He denies this.

In an interview with British newspaper The Daily Telegraph in August, Darian said she no longer spoke to her mother and accused her of abandoning her.

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F.Müller--BTB