WATCH: Gisèle Pelicot says shame must change sides

Rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot says the videos of her being assaulted by her husband and dozens of strangers are "etched in my memory forever."

"We cannot describe videos of such horror," she told PBS News Hour co-anchor Amna Nawaz. "So it helped me to think that this woman was not me because she was just like a rag doll, who had no more soul, no more life, who was being abused."

Pelicot discovered in 2020 that her husband had been repeatedly drugging and raping her for close to a decade, inviting dozens of strangers to abuse her.

During her landmark public mass rape trial in 2024, Pelicot waived her right to anonymity, and all 51 men were found guilty.

To prepare for the trial, Pelicot’s lawyers encouraged her to watch the videos of her assaults, which she’d previously avoided. Pelicot recalled feeling she needed to "expose" her abusers so they faced the consequences for what they did.

"It was for them to bear the burden of shame, not the victims," she said.

Pelicot spoke to Nawaz about her experience, her recently published memoir, "A Hymn to Life: Shame Must Change Sides," and the global reckoning over sexual assault. Watch the full conversation Wednesday night on PBS News Hour.

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