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Gisèle Pelicot, who endured nearly a ten years of rapes by scores of men after being incapacitated by her former spouse, is expected to attend court in France once more this Monday. This comes after one of the men convicted of raping her filed an appeal, triggering a new hearing.

Pelicot became a symbol of women's rights after choosing to forgo her right to privacy during the 2024 trial involving her ex-husband and numerous defendants. Her lawyer, Antoine Camus, explained that while she would have preferred the ordeal of another trial, she will be present throughout the multi-day appeal at the Nîmes court in the south of France.

“She will be there to explain that a rape is a rape, that there is no such thing as a minor assault,” Camus informed reporters.

Husamettin Dogan, a 44-year-old construction worker given to nine years in prison for raping Pelicot, has challenged his conviction. The first trial revealed that Dogan reached out to her then-husband through a online forum and traveled to their home the same night in June 2019, telling his own wife he was going out. He was found guilty of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was unconscious.

Dogan claimed during the first trial that he believed it was a form of role-play. “I’m not a rapist, that’s too heavy for me to accept,” he said. His legal representative refused to comment before the appeal.

Initially, 17 of the 51 convicted men indicated they would appeal, but 16 withdrew over time, leaving only one appeal proceeding.

Dominique Pelicot, described as one of the most notorious sex offenders in recent French memory, was sentenced 20 years in prison for drugging his then-wife and arranging for numerous men to rape her at their home in southern France over many years of marriage.

Testimony in last year’s trial disclosed that Dominique Pelicot had mixed sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication into his wife’s mashed potato or drinks, then brought in men to assault her in the village of Mazan in the French countryside. A total of 50 other men were found guilty in the case.

Now serving a prison sentence in isolation, Dominique Pelicot is set to appear as a witness at the appeal. He is expected to restate his earlier testimony: “I am a rapist and all the accused men in this room are rapists.”

Gisèle Pelicot, a 72-year-old former supply chain professional, had demanded that the initial trial be held in open court to raise awareness about assault under sedation. “It’s not for us to have shame, it’s for them,” she stated in court.

The case generated a massive effect worldwide, with feminist organizations across all continents backing Gisèle Pelicot and international figures releasing statements in her support.

However, campaigners and attorneys noted that the case exposed how widespread and commonplace rape and sexual violence continues to be.

In a separate case, a 46-year-old man in Normandy was sentenced 12 years in prison for raping his partner while she was asleep on several occasions in 2022. Similar to Dominique Pelicot, he first came to police attention for recording up a woman’s skirt in a supermarket, and investigators later discovered videos of the assaults on his digital equipment.

The appeal in the Pelicot case takes place amid growing criticism of the French justice system’s handling of rape. Several critical reports since the first trial have indicated that the system continues to disappoint rape victims on a significant level.

This year, the European Court of Human Rights censured France for “not safeguarding” the rights of three teenagers who disclosed rape.

One teenager who accused more than a dozen firefighters of abuse was found to have suffered “secondary victimisation and discriminatory treatment” by the French justice system, which did not act to protect her dignity “by allowing the use of moralising and guilt-inducing statements, which reinforced gender stereotypes.”

In another instance, France was found to have violated the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of a hospital pharmacist who filed a rape complaint against her supervisor.

This month, the High Council for Equality, an advisory body associated with the French prime minister’s office, reported that despite a threefold increase in rape complaints in France since the global #MeToo movement in 2016, the number of cases proceeding to trial remains dangerously low, with only 3.3% of complaints resulting in convictions.

More than 130 feminist groups are advocating for sweeping reform at every level of the French justice system in dealing with rape, calling for major funding increases and improved state support and prevention.

“The Pelicot case was a form of electric shock, it enabled a lot of people to talk about rape and spousal assault. However, there has not really been a government action. There is a great deal missing in France, and major flaws [in the justice system],” said Anne-Cécile Mailfert of the Fondation des Femmes.

Separately, parliament is currently considering incorporating a consent-based definition of rape into French law.

Marie-Charlotte Garin, a Green MP who backs rewording the law, stated that the Pelicot case had transformed French society’s understanding of consent and that updating the legal wording would help “a cultural change to move from a culture of rape to a respect for autonomy.”

However, Garin stressed that wording by itself is insufficient to address persistent “failures” of the entire French state toward rape survivors. “It requires a revolution in the system to improve how we handle rape,” she said.