Around 30 rallies have been planned for Saturday in Paris and across France in support of Gisèle Pelicot, a rape victim whose story has shocked the country, reports RFI.
In a trial that opened last week, her ex-husband admitted to enlisting dozens of strangers to rape her while she was drugged, over a period of ten years.
The court proceedings – which began last week and are running until December – are open to the public at the request of Pelicot, who said she wished to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.
Pelicot, now 71, revealed her side of the story during 90 minutes of emotional testimony on Thursday.
For years, she said, she had had strange memory lapses and other health problems and thought she might have had Alzheimer's.
In November 2020, she was invited to speak to investigators, who showed her the images of a decade of sexual abuse orchestrated and filmed by her husband – Dominique Pelicot – and her world fell apart, she said in court.