A harrowing rape trial in France has revived debate about consent
Anything less than yes is no
For five weeks a harrowing rape trial taking place in a courtroom in the southern town of Avignon has shaken France. Dominique Pelicot, a retired 71-year-old, stands accused of drugging his then wife, Gisèle, raping her, inviting dozens of other men recruited online to rape her too while she was unconscious, and of filming them, all over a period of nine years. The trial, due to run until December, has opened French eyes to the horror of chemical submission and to what appears to be a disturbing misunderstanding of what constitutes rape, as well as to the remarkable courage and dignity of a woman who decided to make her ordeal public. French law on rape may now be changed as a result.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Consent on trial”
Europe October 5th 2024
- Pedro Sánchez clings to office at a cost to Spain’s democracy
- Why the hard-right Herbert Kickl is unlikely to be Austria’s next chancellor
- Ukraine’s Roma have suffered worse than most in the war
- The Netherlands’ new hard-right government is a mess
- A harrowing rape trial in France has revived debate about consent
- How the wolf went from folktale villain to culture-war scapegoat
From the October 5th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
A rise in antisemitism puts Europe’s liberal values to the test
The return of Europe’s oldest scourge
Once dominant, Germany is now desperate
As an election looms its business model is breaking down