For some time now, comments have been appearing beneath photos of Gisèle Pelicot, calling her an ‘actress’ or a ‘witch’, questioning her status as a victim, and making sarcastic remarks about her appearance, her smile, her clothes and her new life.
No. Not bots. Not always. There are human beings behind those screens. Shadowy figures who sometimes think of themselves as ‘good French people’, respectable folk, yet who nevertheless find it perfectly normal to publicly vilify a woman whose ordeal has been established in court.
It’s sickening. Enough is enough. We’ve had enough; we can’t let this go on any longer.
It therefore seems that a little reminder is in order.
This woman’s name is Gisèle Pelicot.
On 19 December 2024, all 51 defendants in the Mazan rape trial were found guilty of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault against Gisèle Pelicot. Dominique Pelicot, her ex-husband, who drugged her without her knowledge and organised the assaults, was sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment. He did not appeal, making this sentence final.
Seventeen of those convicted had initially lodged appeals. Sixteen eventually withdrew their appeals. Only one went on to a retrial in October 2025. Sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment at first instance, he was again found guilty and his sentence was increased to ten years’ imprisonment.
And this is not a story based on a few uncertain testimonies or a media reconstruction. The case file included, in particular, footage recorded by Dominique Pelicot himself. The facts were examined for months in court.
These are simply the legal facts. Irrefutable. There can be no doubt whatsoever.
And yet, beneath a simple photograph showing Gisèle Pelicot smiling, elegant and dressed for an evening out, hundreds of people still feel the need to publicly vent their suspicion, their contempt and their insinuations.
As if a victim were obliged to bear the visible scars of what she has endured for the rest of her life. As if she were obliged to walk with her head bowed. As if smiling were somehow suspicious. As if wearing a dress constituted incriminating evidence. As if carrying on with life were a betrayal of her own misfortune.
We must therefore reiterate something of astonishing simplicity: a victim is not condemned to look like a victim for the rest of her life.
Gisèle Pelicot has the right to smile. She has the right to go out. She has the right to be elegant. She has the right to dance if she feels like it, to laugh, to love, to travel, to rebuild her life, to experience moments of happiness.
She even has the right — incredible audacity — to live.
And perhaps that is what upsets certain narrow-minded people: that a woman from whom they sought to take away her body now refuses to let them take away the rest of her life.
In a democracy, everything is open to debate. We can comment on a court case, criticise the media, or discuss a court ruling. But there is a fundamental difference between exercising critical thinking and fabricating suspicions simply because a victim no longer fits the pitiful image that others would like to impose on her.
What ultimately upsets me goes even beyond the case of Gisèle Pelicot.
How did we end up here? How, after a trial lasting several months, convictions, video evidence and a second verdict on appeal, can a photograph of a smiling woman still be enough to trigger this avalanche of mudslinging?
There is something deeply disturbing about this: this inability to accept the facts when they contradict the narrative we have constructed for ourselves.
The men on trial in this case had lawyers. They were able to speak. To defend themselves. To contest the charges. The courts examined the facts and handed down their rulings.
As for Gisèle Pelicot, she now has nothing left to prove to the internet.
Nothing.
She has paid a heavy enough price.
So yes, faced with this new wave of mudslinging, I have no desire to hold back. I simply want to say: enough is enough.
Leave Gisèle Pelicot in peace.
And let her get on with her life.
