The women speak out about the Pelicot rapists.

Thursday night TV Documentaries (La 1) broadcast My husband, a rapist in Gisèle PelicotA powerful documentary offering a fresh perspective on a much-discussed case, available on RTVE Play, focuses on other, often overlooked, victims: the wives, mothers, and daughters of some of the men convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot. These men contacted Dominique Pelicot and sexually abused his chemically drugged wife. They were identified in recordings of the rapes committed by Gisèle's husband. These individuals had other women around them who also suffered the consequences of their actions. The documentary features interviews with six of these women: four partners, a mother, and a daughter. They sit facing the camera, but with their backs to the lens. They request anonymity for fear of being associated with the case. “The first monster was Dominique Pelicot. The second monster was the rapists. And the third monster was us,” says Samia. “In the midst of this horror, they’ve forgotten about us.” Initially, they all speak of their husbands, their father, or their son from an everyday perspective. All describe them positively except for one, who acknowledges the personal and sexual behavioral problems she already saw in her husband before learning he was involved in the case. Five of them discovered what these men had done at the time of their arrest, through the police.

The documentary doesn’t limit itself to the tragic testimony of women who become unwitting protagonists in this case. To do so would be to fall into a simplistic and morbid approach. Expert voices are very appropriately incorporated, allowing us to understand the complexity of these women’s situation. A lawyer for one of the accused explains how they have become collateral victims: emotionally, socially, and economically. A psychologist specializing in gender-based violence discusses the psychological impact. The existence of recorded images prevents wives, mothers, and daughters from denying the evidence. Only one of them justifies her partner, who believes he was manipulated and doesn't deserve to be condemned for "just 28 seconds in his underwear." The documentary subtly delves into this reaction and, through the psychologist's analysis, reveals that "statistically, women of sexual abusers have a higher history of emotional and sexual violence than other women in general," as is the case with the woman interviewed. And they justify their denial as a defense mechanism. A sociologist analyzes the public dimension of the impact and how, in turn, it places them in the eye of the storm. My husband, a rapist in Gisèle Pelicot It's difficult to process because not all the women interviewed reacted in the same way or as we might expect. But it helps us understand the emotional and psychological tentacles that grow around sexual abusers, their ability to camouflage themselves, and the power they can wield within their families.