"Shame must change sides." A simple phrase that rippled around the entire planet, translated from its original French into dozens of languages.

It is the mantra of Gisele Pelicot, who has become a feministSomeone who calls for women's rights and equality of the sexes. icon not only in her own country but around the world.

For nine years, her husband drugged her and then invited men from an online chatroom to come to their house and rape her while she was unconscious. Fifty-one men, most of them from her local area, have been charged with sexual offences against her.

Prosecutors are now seeking a 20-year jail term for her husband and others who are found guilty.¹

When the case first came to light, it shocked the world. The scale of the abuse, of the betrayal, of the depravityMoral corruption. of ordinary men.

But for all that the story would probably have disappeared from the headlines quite quickly if not for the courage and dignity of Pelicot, who resolved from the start that her case must save other women from meeting the same fate.

First she waived her right to anonymity in order to have the case tried in public, ensuring her abusers could not hide.

She fought for the videos that her husband took of the assaults to be shown in court, forcing the world "to look rape straight in the eyes".²

In stark contrast with her extraordinary bravery, few of her abusers have had the courage to admit to what they were filmed doing. Most claimed they were misled into believing she was a willing participant.

Since then she has taken every opportunity to link her case with the struggle that all women face. She declared from the stand: "I want those women to say: Mrs Pelicot did it, we can do it too. When you're raped there is shame, and it's not for us to have shame, it's for them."³

And the world has answered her call. On the day she gave testimony, members of the public started queuing outside the court in AvignonA town in southeastern France. before dawn to show their support for her. Every day since her trial began she has left the court to cheers and applause.

Most of all, Pelicot has sought to change society's understanding of sexual assault, telling the court: "The profile of a rapist is not someone met in a car park late at night. A rapist can also be in the family, among our friends."

Indeed, a study has found that while most people tend to believe most attackers are strangers to their victims, this is true in just 9% of cases. Around one quarter of perpetrators are their partner or ex-partner, another quarter a family member, and 44% another person known to them.⁴

Now feminists hope the case might spur on what they see as long-overdue changes in the legal definition of rape.

Since 2017, many European countries have updated their legal codes to incorporate the idea that consent must be given in sexual encounters.

But France still prosecutes only cases where the perpetrator uses "violence, coercion, threat or surprise", and puts the burden on the victim to prove their attacker's intent to rape them.⁵ 

In practice, even where the law has been changed, this is also how rape is commonly understood by those tasked with prosecuting it.

Which is why many hope Pelicot's courage and determination might finally shift the dial both in the law and in our attitudes towards sexual violence.

Do consent laws need to change?

Yes: In spite of the video evidence, some of Pelicot's abusers could walk free under laws that do not require them to get the active consent of a sexual partner. This is an outrageous injustice.

No: Places that have changed their consent laws have proved no more successful at prosecuting sexual offences, which remain largely unpunished. Legal change is no substitute for social change.

Or... As Pelicot recognises, there is a need for both social change and legal change, and the hope is that each one will drive on the other until women are free of the threat of violence.