Queen wrote to rape survivor Gisele Pelicot to praise ‘extraordinary courage’
The Queen wrote to French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot to express her support and praise “her extraordinary dignity and courage”, it has been revealed.
Camilla, who has long campaigned against domestic violence and sexual abuse, was “tremendously affected” by Ms Pelicot’s case, a royal aide told Newsweek.
Ms Pelicot’s ex-husband Dominique Pelicot was jailed for 20 years for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious, in abuse that lasted nearly a decade.
The 72-year-old, who waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse, said that shame should fall on her abusers, not her.
Fifty men were found guilty of rape or sexual offences after a three-and-a-half-month trial in Avignon, which ended in December.
Her courage in waiving her anonymity and attending court where shocking evidence including videos was heard has seen her hailed as a feminist hero.
The aide told Newsweek: “(The Queen) was tremendously affected by the Madame Pelicot case in France and that lady’s extraordinary dignity and courage as she put herself in the public eye because, as she rightly put it, why should she be made to feel like a victim or hide away in shame?
“And, of course, she helped highlight a very significant societal problem despite all the personal suffering she’d been through.
“So, as a long-term supporter of survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, the Queen wrote to Madame Pelicot privately.
“It was very much her instigation and determination to write to express support from the highest level.”
A UK-based petition calling for Ms Pelicot to receive the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has received more than 170,000 signatures.
Last month, Camilla praised the “brilliant” efforts of health workers and other staff supporting sexual assault victims at a specialist centre she officially opened in Exeter.
The Queen has dedicated her royal charity work to supporting victims of sexual assault and a number of years ago championed the idea of washbags for those attacked, an idea that has recently been revived.
In an ITV documentary last year, she vowed she will “keep trying” to end domestic violence, until she is “able to no more”, and was followed over the course of a year for the programme looking at her work in the field.
