Gisèle Pelicot: The Newsnight Interview

BBC Newsnight presents Gisele Pelicot: The Newsnight Interview. This is her only UK television interview, running just over 22 minutes, and it is one of the most powerful, devastating, and ultimately hopeful conversations you will hear this year. Gisele Pelicot, the woman at the centre of the biggest rape trial in French history, speaks with extraordinary composure about the years of abuse she endured at the hands of her husband, her decision to waive anonymity, and the message of strength she now carries for survivors around the world.

The Discovery That Destroyed Everything

The story begins in autumn 2020, when Gisele's husband Dominique was arrested for filming underneath the clothing of several women in a supermarket. He confessed to the offence, broke down in tears, and begged Gisele not to leave him. She agreed to keep it between them, a secret from their children, on the condition it would never happen again. But then came November the second, the day that shattered her world entirely. Police summoned them both to the station, spoke to each of them separately, and then officers informed Gisele that her husband had been taken into custody for aggravated rape and drugging her. She was shown photographs she could barely comprehend. The woman in the images looked lifeless on a bed, surrounded by men she had never seen, never met, never known. As she describes it, it was a tsunami, a total detonation of the life she had known. The officer told her there were initially 53 men involved. That number would later grow. Today, she believes 20 or 30 of those men remain unidentified, still out there, possibly married, possibly fathers. Her world became what she calls a field of ruins. Everything was destroyed, not just for her, but for her children, who arrived the next day to begin their own descent into horror.

A Family Pulverised by Horror

Gisele speaks with particular tenderness about her daughter Caroline, whose pain has been compounded by the discovery that her father had cast an incestuous gaze upon her. Caroline has since filed charges against Dominique. Gisele is careful to say that this kind of trauma does not bring a family together in the way people might assume. Each member has had to reconstruct themselves separately, in their own time, in their own way. Caroline carried hatred and fury, emotions that Gisele herself says she does not feel. She describes herself as someone without hatred or anger, only a profound sense of betrayal and indignation. It is in her DNA, she says, inherited from her grandmother and mother, both women who endured great hardship but always remained standing, always with a smile. The family is now trying to find peace together, and Gisele hopes they are on the path to healing.

The Question Everyone Asked and The Truth About Drugging

One of the most painful questions Gisele faced, both during the trial and in public discourse, was how she could have failed to notice what was happening for a decade. She explains that in the very early stages of the drugging, she noticed something peculiar. She could not remember what she had done the previous evening, which was deeply unusual for someone with an excellent memory. She confronted Dominique directly, asking if he was drugging her. His reaction, collapsing into tears, confirmed her suspicion in that moment, but the manipulation continued. Defence lawyers at the trial, particularly the women among them, pressed this point aggressively. How could she not have felt pain? How could she not have known? The answer became clear when the court learned that Dominique had been administering muscle relaxants alongside the sedatives, masking the physical aftermath of the assaults. If he had not done so, she says, she would have been in agony the following day. The videos of the assaults are, in her own words, unbearable and intolerable. She watched them only once and could not bring herself to view them during the trial. She could hear herself snoring on the footage, which she found particularly unbearable. One of the men involved was HIV positive. She considers it miraculous that she did not contract the virus, and describes herself plainly as a survivor.

Shame Must Change Sides

This is the phrase that became the rallying cry of the trial and of a movement far beyond France. Gisele explains that Dominique had always wanted her to participate in swinging, which she categorically refused. He found his workaround by drugging her, chemically subduing her. In his own words at the trial, he said he had submitted an insubmissive woman. Gisele's decision to waive her right to anonymity and open the trial to the public was not taken lightly. For more than four years, she carried the shame of what had been done to her, and she decided that this was a double punishment for victims. She wanted shame to change sides, to be carried by the accused rather than those who suffered. She insisted during her testimony that the court stop using the phrase scenes of sex and instead use the correct terminology, scenes of rape. Consensual sex is one thing, she said. What happened to her was something entirely different. These were scenes of crime.

The Investigation Extends and Darker Revelations

During the investigation into Dominique's crimes against Gisele, police discovered that he had attempted to rape a 20 year old estate agent in 1999. His DNA was a match, and he was convicted. More disturbingly, he was also questioned about the 1991 murder of a 23 year old estate agent named Sophie, who was drugged, raped, strangled, and stabbed to death while showing an apartment. Dominique remains under investigation for this crime and is presumed innocent. Gisele speaks with visible anguish about the possibility that her husband may have killed a young woman, saying that if it were true, it would mean yet another descent into hell for both herself and her children. She thinks constantly about Sophie's family, about a mother who has waited decades for answers, and about the young woman whose attempted rape occurred when she was exactly the same age as Gisele's own daughter.

The Women Outside the Courthouse and a Letter from a Queen

During the trial in Avignon, something remarkable happened. Women began gathering outside the courthouse each day, forming a guard of honour for Gisele as she left. Their presence, she says, soothed the horrors she endured inside the courtroom, where victims are still treated as though they are the accused. Many of these women confided that they too had been victims who never dared to report. Seeing Gisele's courage gave them the strength to consider coming forward. Her name was plastered on the walls of Avignon, on banners and posters, a symbol of defiance. Then came a letter that astonished her. Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom wrote to express her admiration for Gisele's courage, grace, and dignity. The letter moved Gisele to tears. She had no idea her story had reached the British royal court, and she was both honoured and deeply touched.

Love, Hope, and a Message for All Survivors

Perhaps the most extraordinary part of this interview is its ending, which is not about darkness but about light. Gisele reveals that she has found love again, describing it as falling in love like two adolescents. A man entered her life who shares her values and who has also endured great hardship. Together, they have brought colour back into a life that was left in ruins. Her message to survivors is direct and unwavering. Never feel shame. You are guilty of nothing. If I could do it, you can do it too. She urges victims to make their trials public, to use transparency as a tool for reconstruction. She describes herself not as a radical feminist but as a feminist in her own way, born from watching her mother and grandmother endure suffering with grace and resilience.

Key Takeaways

This interview is a masterclass in dignity and courage. Gisele Pelicot did not choose what happened to her, but she chose how to respond, with a transparency and strength that has reshaped the conversation around sexual violence in France and beyond. The phrase shame must change sides has become a global rallying cry. Her case has exposed not only the crimes of her husband but the systemic failures of courts that still treat victims as suspects. The fact that she has emerged from a decade of horror with her humanity intact, with love in her life, and with a message of hope rather than hatred, is nothing short of remarkable. This is essential listening.