FRANCE – Gisele Pelicot on Tuesday lambasted the cowardice of the dozens of men accused of abusing her during 10 years of mass rape organized by her husband and told the court hearing the trial France’s patriarchal society must change. Dominique Pelicot, her husband, has admitted in court to drugging his wife, 71, and inviting strangers to their house to rape her while she was unconscious. Most of the 50 other men on trial have denied rape.

She only learnt of her ordeal when police stumbled upon videos and pictures her husband recorded of the abuse he is accused of orchestrating. “For me this is the trial of cowardice, there is no other way to describe it,” Gisele Pelicot said, with many of the accused in the courtroom. It is the third time she has addressed the court in Avignon, southern France, as the trial heads towards delivering its verdicts and sentences around Dec. 20.

Testimony that dozens of seemingly ordinary men, aged 26 to 74 and from all walks of life, could have raped an unconscious woman has attracted worldwide attention and turned the trial into an examination of the pervasiveness of sexual violence.

Video recorded by her husband and shown in court over the past weeks have repeatedly featured Gisele Pelicot motionless, sometimes snoring, while some of the accused abused her. Many of the accused have told the court they did not realize they were raping her, did not intend to rape her or put all the blame on her husband, whom they said had manipulated them. (CNN)

Photo: Gisele Pelicot at the courthouse in Avignon on Tuesday. (Reuters)