Gisèle Pelicot's life was shattered by one of the most horrifying sexual abuse cases in recent criminal history. Her husband, Dominique Pelicot, drugged her with powerful sedatives from 2011 to 2020 and invited other men to rape her while she was unconscious. The deception came to light in 2020 when the husband was arrested for filming up women's skirts at a supermarket. Police discovered an archive of videos documenting abuse by at least 70 men. In a Paris interview, Pelicot recounted her marriage, the price she paid for the abuse and the subsequent trial, stating her goal is for her story to help others. Recalling when police revealed the truth, the victim described a state of complete dissociation: 'I was a rag doll.' Pelicot admitted that without memory lapses, she would likely have committed suicide due to the magnitude of the betrayal. According to the Argentine News Agency, Dominique Pelicot's manipulation went as far as accompanying his wife to a neurologist when she began experiencing fainting spells and unexplained memory loss, symptoms doctors initially confused with early signs of Alzheimer's. Despite clear signs of physical decline, she fully trusted her partner of 1971: 'I trusted him so much I couldn't imagine that man was manipulating me,' Gisèle said, emphasizing the depth of the bond she believed she had with a kind and affectionate man. The impact of the crimes wasn't limited to the couple; it destroyed the entire family structure, including their three children and daughters-in-law, from whom the perpetrator also had intimate photos obtained without consent. During court hearings, Pelicot was forced to confront her attackers—men aged 22 to 70, most of whom denied the violence of their acts. The woman highlighted the coldness of the process and the lack of empathy: 'I understood I wasn't going to give up.'
