Gisèle Pélicot's bravery should never be forgotten.

This story discusses sexual assault.

Before 2020, Gisèle Pélicot believed her marriage was a happy one. A marriage, spanning 50 years,  that had not only stood the test of time, but also survived multiple health and financial crises. 

Gisèle had even forgiven her husband for filming up the skirts of three unsuspecting women, a crime he was arrested for. He told Gisèle it was a "once-off" and she believed him.

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But in November, 2020 – two months after the arrest – the 72-year-old grandmother from France was summoned to a police station. Gisèle assumed it was about the same case. She was wrong. 

Instead, the officer asked Gisèle about her sex life; about swingers and threesomes. Shocked, Gisèle told the officer, "no", she was a "one man woman". 

"I couldn't bear any man's hands on me, other than my husband's," she told them. 

"Scenes of horror."

Then she was shown the images. Images of her — although she didn't recognise herself at first — lying unconscious in her own bed; strange men raping her as her body lay limp. 

To Gisèle, these were scenes of barbarity. "My world is collapsing," she said, describing how she felt as she was shown the images.

"Everything is collapsing. These are scenes of horror for me."

By the time the officer placed a third image onto the table, Gisèle couldn't take anymore, begging them to stop. 

"All that we built together was gone. Our three children, seven grandchildren."

It would be more than three years until Gisèle found the strength to watch horrifying videos - depicting at least 200 rapes over nine years – that had been allegedly recorded, archived and captioned by her husband. 

It was then that Gisèle made the brave decision to waive her right to anonymity. 

She would say her name. She would show her face. And she would do it with dignity. She would shun the shame and stigma felt by so many victims of sexual assault, and she would hold her head high, despite the devastating violation of her body and her mind, by a man she had trusted for half a century. 

But the world would know his name too. The world would know that Dominique Pélicot orchestrated his wife's rape, drugging her and watching as 51 other men sexually assault her unconscious body. 

The world would know that Pélicot advertised his wife on the sex-chat website, Without Her Knowing, giving would-be rapists strict instructions to park away from the house, undress in the kitchen, and to warm their hands and avoid cologne so as not to wake his drugged wife. Condoms were not required and no money exchanged hands. Pélicot simply wanted to watch his wife being raped. 

"I was sacrificed on the altar of vice. It's a dead woman on a bed," Gisèle told the open court during the rape trial for her husband, and 51 other men. 

"This isn't a bedroom, it's an operating theatre. They treat me like a garbage bag, a rag doll. These aren't sex scenes, these are rape scenes, it's unbearable."

Police found nearly 4,000 photos and videos on Pélicot's computers, USB sticks, and hard drives, revealing at least 200 rapes from 2011 to 2020. 

Some of the defendants – which include a firefighter, a civil servant and a truck driver – claim they believed they were participating in a consensual sex game, while Pélicot has admitted to deriving pleasure from watching men rape his unconscious wife. 

"I speak for all women." 

After enduring the trauma of telling her children that their father had raped her; that he watched her be raped by others, Gisèle made the decision to take her story public. 

Her rapists' trial would be an open one, enabling the world to watch and listen, as the most intimate details of her life and her assaults were laid bare. 

"I speak for all women who are drugged and don't know about it," Gisèle said. 

Gisèle made this incredible decision, not only for herself, but for countless other women shamed into silence after being assaulted or raped. 

And the world is listening. 

Pornhub, the world's largest online adult site, is now deleting videos with sleep or sleeping in the title, and displaying a warning message to those searching for them. 

"Your search could be for illegal and abusive sexual material," the pop up warning reads. 

"Including non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) or image-based sexual abuse (BSA)," it continues. 

The user is then directed back to the home page. 

Gisèle, who has displayed incredible poise and grace, said she would continue to speaking out "on behalf of all women". 

"I do it on behalf of all women who will perhaps never know," she said.

"So that no more women have to suffer."

Feature image: Getty.

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

Mamamia is a charity partner of RizeUp Australia, a national organisation that helps women, children and families move on after the devastation of domestic and family violence. Their mission is to deliver life-changing and practical support to these families when they need it most. If you would like to support their mission you can donate here.