73-year-old Gisele Pelicot waived her right to anonymity to ensure the shame ‘shifted to the other side’ as the disgrace now lives permanently with her husband Dominique
The bravery and dignity of Gisele Pelicot stands in contrast with the cowardly, vile and depraved behaviour of her rapist husband and his accomplices.
The 73-year-old Frenchwoman waived her right to anonymity to ensure the shame “shifted to the other side”. The disgrace now lives permanently with Dominique Pelicot, who will almost certainly die in jail, and the 50 other men sentenced.
Every single one of these men had the opportunity to stop what was happening. That none did should be a cause of eternal shame. Ms Pelicot’s courageous stance forced society, not just in France but around the world, to confront the abuse and violence women suffer at the hands of men. All too often, as in this case, this takes place within the home.
Here, fewer than one in six rapes are reported and of those only 2.7% result in a charge. If Ms Pelicot’s defiance encourages more victims to come forward then her nightmare will not have been in vain.
Curb the drips
Privatised water companies have put greed before duty to customers.
Money which should have been spent upgrading sewers and building new reservoirs was siphoned off to shareholders or used to pay excessive and unwarranted bonuses. These firms have finally been ordered to do the job they should have done in the first place but they are insisting households pay for it in the form of higher bills.
Regulator Ofwat has failed customers yet again. If bills must rise it should be on condition all the money goes on investment. Until the industry cleans up its act – and our seas and rivers – they should not be allowed to splash out a penny on dividends or bonuses.
Humble pie
New MasterChef presenter Grace Dent used to be one of the cookery programme’s biggest critics.
She might need to rethink some of her gripes if she does not want to have egg on her face.