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Serial rape victim Gisèle Pelicot awarded Legion of Honour

Gisèle Pelicot, who was widely admired for choosing to appear publicly for the trial of her former husband who organised his wife's repeated rape by strangers after drugging her, has been made a 'knight' of France's highest award for merit, the Legion of Honour. 

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Gisèle Pelicot, who became a feminist icon by publicly testifying over the mass rapes she endured, and rapper-turned-fashion designer Pharrell Williams were among 589 people awarded France's top civic honour, reports RTE.

They were both named knights of the Legion of Honour on a list announced ahead of France's July 14 national day.

Ms Pelicot, 72, earned international tributes for her courage in testifying at a trial in 2024 against her former husband, who drugged her and arranged for her to be raped by dozens of men over a decade.

She has since been named on lists of the world's most influential people by international media and the case helped forced a change in France's rape law.

But Ms Pelicot has remained silent since the trial. Her lawyer says she is concentrating on writing a book giving her side of the mass rape story which is to be released in 2026.

Read more of this AFP report published by RTE.