Gisèle Bellecot, the French rape survivor, walks into court every day with her head held high.
Marseille, France:
She walks into court every day with her head held high. The ex-wife of a French man on trial for orchestrating his gang rape in his bed nearly a decade ago has become a feminist icon.
With her dark hair and dark eyes, Gisèle Bellecote, 71, is a leading figure in the fight against the use of drugs to commit sexual assault.
His life was shattered in 2020 when he discovered that his partner of five decades had secretly administered large doses of tranquilizers over the years to rape him, and invited dozens of strangers to join him.
But she decided not to hide and demanded that the sentence against Dominique Bellecote, 71, and 50 nuclei since September 2 be made public because, as one of her lawyers said, it should suit her alleged attackers. – ela não – Thirdly, shame.
“This is one way of saying… that shame must change,” his lawyer, Stephane Babonneau, said at the start of the lawsuit.
Since then, feminist activists have used Belgian artist Aline Dessin's stylized image, painted with the phrase “shame changes sides,” to show support and call for protests.
Artist with 2.5 million followers on TikTok unlocks most photo captions.
“Brave Moito”
Outside the courthouse in Avignon, in the sixth gallery, protester Nadege Pinault said she was filled with admiration for the lead prosecutor in the trial.
“Or what you're doing is very brave,” she said.
Gisèle Bellecote, accompanied by her lawyer Stéphane Babonneau (right), arrives for the court hearing.
“She is advocating for so many children, immigrants, and their families” that they are increasingly being abused.
In August, Gisèle Bellecote obtained a divorce from her husband, who admitted to the abuse and then meticulously documented it with photos and videos.
She had moved from the city of Mazan, not to the south, where, as she put it, she had been treated for years as a “piece of meat” or “bonica di pano.”
She now uses her single name, but during the match I asked her to use her old married woman name.
Her lawyer, Antoine Camus, said she had stopped being a devoted, stable wife, who loved to walk and sing in a choir, into a woman in her seventies, ready for battle.
Gisèle Bellecote leaves court after the trial of Dominique Bellecote, Bellecote's former partner.
“Terei de lutar até ao fim” was published in print on September 5, the court's only public announcement in the early days of the four-month trial.
“This is clearly not an easy exercise and without trying to trap me with certain questions,” he added calmly.
New MFA
Gisèle Bellecot was born in Germany on December 7, 1952, and returned to France with her family at the age of five.
When she was barely nine years old, her mother, only 35 years old, died of cancer.
“I am a 15-year-old Kabika, she was a mother to Mulherzenha,” she said, describing her as rising with “great love.”
The eldest, Michel, died of a heart attack at the age of 43, before he turned 20.
He said he was never the type to show his feelings publicly.
“In the family, we hide our tears and share laughter,” said one of our supporters.
Dominique Bellecot, her future husband and rapist, was discovered in 1971.
She dreamed of becoming a hairdresser, but in the meantime she decided to study to become a data designer. After a few years as a temporary worker, she joined the French national electricity company EDF, ending her career in the logistics service for its nuclear power plants.
At home, I took care of two three kids, two nets and seven nets, and played a few games.
It was only when police caught her husband photographing women's clothing in a supermarket in 2020 that she discovered the real cause of her disturbing memory loss.
His lawyer, Camus, said his client “never wanted to become a model.”
“He just wants everything to be empty,” he said.
(Except that this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
