Guilty verdicts in France's mass rape trial 'send powerful message'

This post was originally published on France24

A French court on Thursday found 51 men found guilty of participating in the mass rape of Gisèle Pelicot during decades of abuse orchestrated by her ex-husband. Many of the men had denied the charges against them saying that they thought Gisèle Pelicot had consented to the encounters, despite being drugged unconscious. The guilty verdicts “send a powerful message to say none of those excuses hold water for a second”, said journalist Megan Clement, editor of the feminist Impact newsletter.