Gisèle Pelicot: Shame must be carried by the accused, not the victims
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 17 February 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
**This episode contains distressing details of rape and sexual assault**
Gisèle Pelicot: “I wanted the shame to shift to the other side…Shame must be carried by the accused, not the victims.”
Victoria Derbyshire speaks to Gisèle Pelicot, the woman at the centre of France's largest ever rape trial.
In 2024 her husband and 50 other men were convicted of raping and assaulting her.
For years, Mr Pelicot had repeatedly drugged her unconscious and invited dozens of men into their home to rape her.
In an exclusive UK interview, Gisèle Pelicot talks of her horror at discovering what had been done to her, how hard it was telling her kids and why she chose to waive her anonymity at the trial. She also talks about the overwhelming public support she has received and her hopes for the future.
Thank you to the Newsnight team for its help in making this programme.
If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide. Search befrienders.org. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Victoria Derbyshire Producers: Liz Rawlings, Jasmin Dyer, Farhana Haider, Clare Williamson Editor: Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Gisèle Pelicot Credit: Dmitry Kostyukov/BBC Newsnight)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Hello, I'm BBC presenter, Victoria Derbyshire, and this is The Interview from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:12.2 | The best conversations coming out of the BBC, people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:18.4 | Before we begin, I wanted to let you know that you might find some of the details |
| 0:22.0 | of rape and abuse in this story really upsetting. |
| 0:26.6 | If you're not a little bit afraid, |
| 0:29.3 | then you're not paying attention. |
| 0:31.3 | We have never seen a people so united. |
| 0:34.8 | Do not make that boat crossing. |
| 0:36.4 | Do not make that journey. |
| 0:38.1 | Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. We're more popular than populism. |
| 0:45.0 | For this interview, I met Giselle Pelico, the woman at the center of the largest rape trial in French |
| 0:50.9 | history. In 2024, 51 men, including her husband, were convicted of |
| 0:58.2 | raping her over almost a decade. Her then-husband, Dominique Pelico, used to drug her frequently |
| 1:04.2 | before raping her himself and bringing other men into the family home to rape her too. He |
| 1:10.7 | filmed the abuse and thousands of videos were found by police on his laptop. |
| 1:16.6 | Shezell Pelico made the remarkable decision to waive her legal right to anonymity |
| 1:20.9 | just before the trial began, because she said she wanted shame to change sides |
| 1:26.7 | from the victim to the rapist. |
| 1:29.9 | Speaking publicly for the first time, |
| 1:32.5 | Giselle Pelico tells me about the impact on her of what her husband did. |
| 1:37.1 | And how she survived. |
... |
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