When she walks into the courthouse in the French city of Avignon, flanked by her children and a team of lawyers, Gisèle Pelicot cuts an unassuming figure, reports the BBC.
The 72-year-old mother and grandmother, her hair styled into a neat bob, wears colourful dresses and Breton tops. She looks down as she passes the dozens of journalists gathered by the entrance, her eyes hidden by round-framed sunglasses.
Behind them, as she has put it, lies a "field of ruins".
Nearly every day since 2 September, Gisèle Pelicot has been at the centre of a trial in which 51 men are accused of raping her, including the man she was married to for 50 years.
As her story has rippled through France since the trial began, she has become a symbol of courage and resilience.
"I was sacrificed on the altar of vice," she said, explaining how she had learned that Dominique Pelicot had drugged her to sleep and recruited men to treat her "like a rag doll" for over 10 years.
The trial, due to run until December, has so far heard evidence from lawyers, police, psychiatrists, and from another woman whose husband drugged and raped her following instructions by Dominique.
The Pelicots’ daughter, Caroline, who believes her father abused her when she was unconscious, has also taken the stand.
Dominique Pelicot has admitted the charges against him, although he denies abusing his daughter.