Gisèle Pelicot explains how she found out that her husband had been drugging and raping her along with 50 other men

Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.

Gisèle Pelicot has recalled the moment she found out about her husband, Dominique Pelicot, drugging and raping her — as well as letting several other men rape her too.

In 2024, the trial of Dominique and Gisèle's numerous other abusers began, and the grim details revealed in court started making headlines across the globe.

It was found that Gisèle had been subjected to years of abuse between 2011 to 2020. Her husband of more than 30 years had been drugging and raping her, allowing other men to abuse her, and had been filming and taking photographs of the sickening acts.

It was reported by The Guardian at the time that at least 83 men were thought to have raped Gisèle in this timeframe, but only 51 men (including Dominique) went on to be convicted.

The French native was completely unaware of the things that Dominique had been subjecting her to until he was arrested for taking photos up women's skirts in public.

It was during a police investigation that they then discovered the disgusting images he had of his wife asleep and being raped by other men.

Now, speaking to The New York Times in a new interview, Gisèle recalled how she came to learn of the abuse she'd endured.

Police called in the mother-of-three and, when speaking to Lieutenant Perret, she spotted 'a pile of files next to his desk'.

"He says to me, 'Mrs Pelicot, what I'm about to tell you isn't going to please you'," Gisèle said.

"I'm really starting to worry, heart is racing. I say to him, 'What's going on?'"

The detective pointed to the large pile of documents and pulled out a photograph to show her.

"He says, 'Do you recogonize yourself in this photo?' And, of course, I don't recognize myself," Gisèle went on to recall, noting that she was with a man [she] didn't know' who was raping her.

I sat down with Gisele Pelicot for almost 3 hours in Paris. This Saturday, the first American interview ⁦@nytimes⁩ . An astonishing and deeply moving conversation. pic.twitter.com/7oB2VjQ7lz

— Lulu NYT (@LuluGNavarro) February 10, 2026

She told police that she didn't know the man and questioned if the woman in the photo was actually her; but then he showed her another photo that was 'pretty much the same'.

Lieutenant Perret said to her: "This is your room, Mrs Pelicot. These are your bedside lamps. We searched your home. These are your belongings."

Gisèle's brain then went into 'disassociation' and the police officer offered to show her videos to back what he was telling her, but she said didn't want to see it.

They went on to say that Dominique was in police custody and that she needed to know that she'd been raped 'many times'. Another 53 men had been arrested by this time as well.

Dominique when on to be found guilty of all charges in the rape and drugging of Gisèle, and was handed a 20-year prison sentence.

His 50 co-defendants were all found guilty too, with all except one being charged with rape.

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org.