Gisèle Pelicot Survived Mass Rape. Now She’s Looking to the Future.

Just over a year after her former husband and dozens of other men were convicted of raping her while she was drugged, Gisèle Pelicot says she is happy and at peace. She is in good health with no flashbacks; a recent operation cleared her of cervical cancer caused by one of the sexually transmitted diseases the rapists passed to her.

In February she paid off the last of the debts racked up by her former husband, and she has fallen in love with a man who shares her life and home. Her message to rape victims: “You must not give up on being happy.” After months of silence and a retreat to a small island on France’s west coast to heal, she has gone public.

Her memoir, “A Hymn to Life,” was released in 22 languages, with an English audiobook read by Emma Thompson, and she has begun a two-month book tour. In London, Kristin Scott Thomas and Kate Winslet read excerpts at an event; at the tour’s end in April she will stand alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky to receive an award recognizing her bravery.

France, London

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