AVIGNON, France — A French panel of judges discovered dozens of males responsible of raping a girl whose then-husband had drugged her unconscious over the course of a decade. The courtroom sentenced the husband to a most 20 years of imprisonment.

The five-judge panel first dominated that the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot was responsible of aggravated rapes and all different fees in opposition to him.

“You might be subsequently declared responsible of aggravated rape on the particular person of Mme. Gisèle Pelicot,” mentioned Roger Arata, the lead choose within the courtroom, addressing Dominique Pelicot and the primary group of males discovered responsible, The Related Press reported. A complete of 51 males, together with Dominique Pelicot, stood trial.

At age 72, Dominique Pelicot may spend the remainder of his life in jail.

Gisèle Pelicot spoke to a crowd exterior the courthouse after the verdicts have been issued. She mentioned she by no means regretted waiving her proper to anonymity within the public trial and thanked victims whose tales are “typically within the shadows.”

“I belief in our capability collectively to discover a higher future the place ladies and men alike can dwell along with mutual respect,” she mentioned.

Dominique Pelicot and 49 different males have been tried for aggravated rape and tried rape. Prosecutors additionally requested a four-year jail time period for one more defendant, who was tried for aggravated sexual assault.

“She’s a hero,” mentioned Blandine Deverlanges, head of the feminist group Les Amazones d’Avignon (Amazons of Avignon). “A form of hero as a result of she refused to be silenced. And she or he needed her story to be public and she or he gave us large current for us ladies as a result of she gave us her story so now it is our story.”

The courtroom determination ends a 15-week trial on this southern French metropolis that included detailed descriptions of systematic drugging and sexual abuse, triggering a nationwide debate concerning the therapy of ladies in society.

Though the crimes occurred again and again behind closed doorways — unknown even to the sufferer on the time — the hearings and verdict passed off in entrance of the world’s information media, as she insisted on a public trial.

She was preventing for “all these folks around the globe, ladies and men, who’re victims of sexual violence,” she mentioned.

“This trial has already modified issues as a result of numerous ladies at the moment are holding open trials,” Valentine Rioufol, a feminist from Avignon, mentioned Thursday after the verdicts have been learn out. “Pelicot set an enormous instance. Ladies may have open rape trials now. They’re not scared to do it. The disgrace has modified sides.”

Through the trial, her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, admitted to the fees of rape and testified he had used tranquilizers and sleeping drugs hidden in her food and drinks to ship her into deep sufficient sleep that she would not be stirred awake. He recruited strangers he met on-line to have intercourse along with her with out her information.

However most of the accused didn’t confess, even supposing movies of their acts have been proven on massive screens within the courtroom. Police had discovered hundreds of pictures and movies on the husband’s pc drives that offered prosecutors proof of the abuse. Gisèle Pelicot had insisted such proof be proven in courtroom.

She turned one thing of a hero for crowds of largely ladies who gathered exterior the courtroom.

“She gave us an necessary reward by demanding that this trial be open for the world to see. So we now have to be right here to assist her,” mentioned supporter Chantal Cremont.

There have been different exhibits of assist for the sufferer, similar to a latest demonstration in Paris.

“We’re very pleased with her as a result of she’s very sturdy and what she did — she’s actually courageous,” mentioned Amélie Chauveau, who attended the Paris rally in November.

Many French males, in the meantime, have expressed disgrace. Some used the hashtag #NotAllMen in social media posts distancing themselves from the horrible acts. That worries journalist Victoire Tuaillon, who hosts a podcast that explores male violence.

“Most suppose that these males are form of monsters, completely totally different from them, you recognize? They suppose that, the case does not actually concern them as a result of they suppose that, I might by no means try this,” Tuaillon instructed NPR.

Mathieu Palain, who has written books on male violence in opposition to ladies, famous that the case uncovered how odd the perpetrators may very well be.

“This scary trial exhibits us that these males are usually not wicked criminals however truly common guys who’ve wives and youngsters and jobs — a baker, a firefighter. They’re our brothers, our fathers. And that is surprising,” Palain mentioned. “It could be simpler to say these violent males don’t have anything to do with us.”