Gisèle Pelicot’s Memoir Excerpts Reveal Why She Sought a Public Trial and Her First Look at the Evidence

Overview

• Le Monde published passages from Pelicot’s memoir, A Hymn to Life, ahead of its February 17 release in 22 languages.
• She writes that she insisted on open hearings in Avignon in 2024 to confront those accused in public and to shift shame away from victims.
• Pelicot recounts her shock when police first showed her photos and videos in 2020, describing an initial refusal to believe the images were of her.
• Investigators say her husband, Dominique Pelicot, secretly sedated her, recruited men via a dating site, instructed them not to wake her, and recorded assaults.
• The case records estimate at least 92 assaults by 72 men, list 51 defendants in court filings, note roughly 22 others unidentified, and reference ongoing inquiries linking Dominique to a 1991 murder case and a 1999 attempted rape he admitted.