This “white march of solidarity” was organized by a group of women who have suffered violence, in collaboration with the Vaucluse association Isofaculté.
A solidarity march in Mazan for Gisèle Pelicot

Hundreds of people, including women who have suffered violence, gathered in Mazan to show their support for Gisèle Pelicot. Gisèle Pelicot was drugged by her husband and raped in her home by numerous men in this Vaucluse commune.

On Saturday October 5, more than 250 participants, white roses in hand and surrounded by horses, walked “bare-faced” and in silence, expressing their solidarity with Gisèle Pelicot.

It was here, in Mazan, that this septuagenarian was the victim of unspeakable violence for years. She was drugged with anxiolytics and raped by her husband, who recruited strangers on the Internet to commit these acts. The events, which led to a trial at the Avignon criminal court, began on September 2.

A message of resilience

The women who opened the march have all undergone traumatic experiences and are engaged in a process of reconstruction through equitherapy, thanks to the association Isofaculté, behind the initiative.

“The main message is one of unconditional support for Gisèle Pelicot,” says Daniel Sylvestre, president of the association. Participants also want to express their solidarity and have the opportunity to speak out and share their experiences.

Catherine Borel, 69, told AFP: “This is my first demonstration, but I find it normal to fight for a woman and for my history.” She recalls her own journey, marked by violence that she was unable to voice thirty years ago.

An emotional trial

Josiane Dolce, 73, who made the trip from Carpentras, shares her feelings about this unprecedented trial, which involves 51 defendants. “It’s not the trial of all men, but the trial of some men”, she stresses, expressing her fear of seeing videos during the hearings, which she finds difficult to bear.

Others, like a serious-faced young woman carrying a sign reading “Victims are crushed by justice”, also testify to their personal struggles. A victim of rape and attempted murder, she had to fight relentlessly to assert her rights.

Marion, another participant, explains: “I’m here because I’m a woman, a mother and a grandmother. My support goes to Gisèle and all the other women.”