Paris
—
Gisèle Pelicot emerged as a global feminist hero in 2024 by transforming her horrific, personal story into a public battle against rape culture.
On December 19, 2024, her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, was convicted of orchestrating her rape dozens of times by various men over nearly a decade after a trial that shocked France and pushed the country to examine systemic sexual assault. Fifty men were found guilty of rape or sexual assault that day.
Outside the southern French courtroom where her rapists were convicted and sentenced, Pelicot said: “Shame must change sides.” It became a rallying cry that helped shift the narrative around sexual violence in…