Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Yesterday, the 72-year-old victim of mass rape, Gisèle Pelicot, told a French courtroom: “I am determined that things change in this society.” The trial of her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, alongside 50 other men in Avignon has led to protests and outrage across France. The horrific scale of the abuse she experienced may be what finally shifts the needle in French law on consent in the legal definition of rape. French law does not include a specific mention of the need for a partner’s consent, which means a prosecutor must prove the accused intends to rape. It’s a legal loophole that has appeared in the Pelicot trial for the men who are claiming they believed they were participating in a “role-playing” scenario with the couple. In 2023, France prevented non-consensual sex becoming an EU-wide offence. But President Emmanuel Macron and new justice minister Didier Migaud have both signalled they are in favour of rewriting French law on rape to include consent in line with countries including Spain, Germany and the UK.
