For more than two months, Gisele Pelicot sat in a courtroom as video − shot by her husband − showing numerous men sexually abusing her played before the court. She was asleep throughout all these rapes. Pelicot did not leave the courtroom when these films were shown. In fact, she fought hard to have the videos shown to the public. On Tuesday, Pelicot made her closing statement to the court in the trial of the 51 men charged with raping her after her husband drugged her and invited the men into their home to abuse her over the course of almost a decade. The case has gripped France and beyond, stirred feminist protests, and sparked a reckoning over the pervasiveness of rape and sexual violence. Speaking before the court over the course of the trial, Pelicot never flinched from throwing full responsibility and shame back onto her accused rapists, inspiring the motto "shame must change sides" taken up by feminist demonstrators. Her closing remarks were no exception. "It is time for society to look at this macho, patriarchal society and change the way it looks at rape," she said. In the courtroom were many of the accused, men from many walks of life, occupations, and backgrounds. Over the course of the trial, they said they thought they were just participants in a husband's sexual games, and were unaware their acts were rape. Pelicot lambasted their "cowardice" in direct terms. "When you walk into a bedroom and see a motionless body, at what point (do you decide) not to react? Why did you not leave immediately to report it to the police?" More: 'We are all Gisèle': French women rise up against 'rape culture' during Gisèle Pelicot trial "For me this is the trial of cowardice, there is no other way to describe it," she said. The "absence of understanding what abuse is" showed how an abuser could be "anyone," even someone "who doesn't see themselves as an abuser," said Violette Perrotte, director of Le Maison des Femmes, a French non-profit organization that runs health centers dedicated to women victims of violence. "We always say that domestic violence doesn't have one type of victim and one type of abuser," she said. The trial "showed the diversity of people who are able to abuse." 'Our family has been destroyed' Up until she was contacted by police, Gisele Pelicot believed she had a happy marriage to her husband, Dominique Pelicot. Totally unrelated, she believed, were the memory loss and worrying symptoms she experienced for years, causing her to fear she had a brain tumor or Alzheimer's and visit many doctors, the New York Times reported . But the explanation came in 2020, after officials arrested her husband when he was caught filming up women's skirts at a supermarket. On his seized electronic equipment, they found around 300 photos and videos of her being abused by 72 different men. Dominique Pelicot connected with the men on Coco.gg, a since-shut down anonymous chat site implicated in a string of murders, rapes, and assaults. For his part, Dominique Pelicot took direct responsibility in front of the court weeks ago: "I am a rapist, just like all the others in this room," he said. But in his closing statement, Pelicot maintained that he was innocent of abusing their daughter, who goes by the pseudonym Caroline Darian, or their grandchildren, despite nude photos of Darian found in her father's possession. "You don't even have the courage to tell the truth!" Darian shouted in the courtroom. "You will die in a lie. You are alone in your lie." "Our family has been destroyed," David Pelicot, one of her two brothers, told the court on Monday. He expects from the trial that the men charged, including his father, who he referred to as "that man," will be punished for "the horrors they inflicted on my mother," he said. When his father interrupted his testimony to apologize, David Pelicot shot back, "Never!" "It's been four years since I lost my father," Florian Pelicot, the couple's other son, told the court. He said he hoped the court would slap his father with a heavy sentence to encourage other rape victims to speak out. Perrotte said she believes the trial will have some impact, like highlighting how most rapists are already known to their victims, and that a "perfect victim" or "perfect crime" doesn't exist. Her organization, for example, now trains professionals on "chemical submission," the term used to describe drugging a rape victim. "The patriarchy still has very nice days ahead of it, but it has definitely had an impact on how we view perpetrators," she said. Contributing: Reuters
TOP footie clubs, players and agents have coughed up £800million since HMRC began a tax avoidance probe. The huge tally of unpaid taxes since 2005 includes £75million in the last year. Advertisement And latest HMRC figures reveal 396 investigations are ongoing — including potential abuses at 33 professional clubs. Newcastle United recently settled a £10million tax dispute that dated back to Mike Ashley’s ownership of the club. Chelsea are being probed having reported themselves to the Premier League after spotting issues as Todd Boehly’s consortium took over ownership from Roman Abramovich. Manchester United are under investigation too, while legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson faces scrutiny over his ACF Sports Promotion firm. Advertisement Read more on unpaid tax TAX FIGHT Top BBC host faces court battle with HMRC over alleged 'excessive' unpaid tax PAYING THE PRICE Katie Price declared bankrupt for SECOND time over £750k tax bill Earlier this year, ex-Man City defender Benjamin Mendy was forced to sell his £5million Cheshire mansion to repay an £800,000 tax debt. Meanwhile, the number of tax investigations in football is likely to rise as a result of inquiries into “dual representation” transfer deals. The deals would see agents claim to work for both a club and a player and split their fee between them. HMRC believes agents work mostly for players and therefore should pay more tax. Advertisement Most read in Football Exclusive SCOTT PROPERTY Celtic legend Scott Brown splashes out £2million on luxury pad with pool DOWN AND OUT Rangers boss Philippe Clement admits he has 'no credit left in the bank' Live Blog HEARTS 1 CELTIC 4 Idah scores with third touch just after replacing scorers Kuhn and Kyogo NOT READY SPFL club call out league bosses on 'preparation time' as Storm Bert delays game Officials warn they will no longer accept a 50/50 split as the “standard approach”. Ex-England ace Emile Heskey facing bankruptcy in latest battle with taxman 1 Ex-Man City defender Benjamin Mendy was forced to sell his £5million Cheshire mansion to repay an £800,000 tax debtHUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Jonah Pierce had 20 points in Presbyterian's 67-42 win against Youngstown State on Friday night. Pierce added nine rebounds for the Blue Hose (4-3). Kory Mincy scored 12 points, shooting 5 for 11, including 2 for 5 from beyond the arc. Kobe Stewart had 11 points and finished 4 of 9 from the field. The Penguins (2-3) were led by Ty Harper, who posted 12 points. EJ Farmer added 10 points and three steals for Youngstown State. Nico Galette also had five points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Torsten Asmus ETF Overview iShares Micro-Cap ETF ( NYSEARCA: IWC ) invests in a portfolio of about 1,700 micro-cap stocks. The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.60%. While pricey, other similar funds such as First Trust Dow Jones Select MicroCap Index Fund ETF ( Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
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