Pelicot edged out Trump and Macron after she waived her anonymity in a highly publicised rape trial of her ex-husband and dozens of other men, insisting that “shame should change sides”.
Gisèle Pelicot has been named France’s Personality of the Year in a French opinion poll, following a much-publicised trial against her ex-husband and 50 other men found guilty of systematically raping her as she lay unconscious.
The 72-year-old Pelicot beat a list of world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with 38% of respondents saying she had affected them the most over the past 12 months in a poll by the Odoxa Institute for French regional newspapers.
US President-elect Donald Trump came in second place with 37%, followed by Zelenskyy with 28%.
Odoxa said that Pelicot’s “personality (and) her dignity but also the horror to which she was subjected have made an impact upon French people.”
Pelicot became a household name in France and much of the world this year after waiving her right to be anonymous in the trial of her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, and 50 other men accused of raping her over a decade-long period.
Dominique Pelicot and all but one of his co-defendants were convicted of sexual assault in December in a trial that shocked France. Dominique Pelicot said he would not appeal his sentence of 20 years for drugging and raping his ex-wife and recruiting other men to participate.
Gisèle Pelicot demanded that evidence of her ex-husband’s crimes, including homemade videos of her rape, be heard in an open court in order for “shame to change sides” from the victim to the rapist.
“I wanted all of society to be a witness to the debates that took place here. I never regretted making this decision,” she said after the court ruled her ex-husband was guilty.
“I have trust in our capacity to collectively project ourselves toward a future where all, women and men, can live in harmony, with respect and mutual understanding,” Gisèle Pelicot added.
Her ex-husband’s guilty ruling made headlines around the world and prompted reactions from thousands of individuals and political leaders who praised her bravery.
French President Emmanuel Macron thanked Gisèle Pelicot for speaking out and praised her courage, which he said had “moved and inspired France and the world”.
“Shame must change sides. Thank you, Gisèle Pelicot,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on social platform X. “You courageously came out of anonymity and went public and battled for justice. You gave women worldwide a strong voice. The disgrace is always the perpetrator’s.”
“Too often, victims of sexualized violence are not believed or even given a share of the blame,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wrote on X. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez praised Pélicot “dignity.”
Campaigners for victims of sexual assault in France have said that Gisèle Pélicot’s ordeal has inspired a national conversation about rape culture in France — a country where 94% of rape cases reported to French police are dropped without action.
The trial has provoked discussion on changing France’s rape laws, which currently make no explicit mention of the term “consent.”
Both Macron and then-Justice Minister Didier Migaud said they would be open to updating the law in December. France blocked the inclusion of a consent-based rape definition in a European-wide directive in 2023.
