Macron thanks Gisele Pelicot for the courage of the mass rape trial

France's President Emmanuel Macron has honoured Giselle Pelicot's figure for the force he displayed in the trial of mass violations recorded by her husband and committed by 50 other men.

Describing her as a pioneer for women, he has said that her “dignity and courage have inspired France and the world”.

Her former husband, Dominic Pelicot, 72-year-old, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for rape after acknowledging that he had drugged Giselle for almost a decade and that he recruited other men to rape her while she was in a coma in bed.

All 50 other men have been given smaller sentences.

Gisele Pelicott has said the trial has been difficult, but believes in a future when men and women can live “in harmony and understanding”.

She had made the decision not to be anonymous and made the case public, which has received global attention.

Judges in southern France have said that the 51 men who have been indicted, ages 27 to 74, are guilty and convicted, but Gisele's lawyer said Friday that no decision would reverse the life that has been destroyed”.

Her three children have given them disappointment with certain sentences imposed on some men who distinguish between three and 15 years.

According to reports, 41 men were immediately sent to prison.

Dominique Pelicot's lawyer has said he is <x0ronized” by the sentence against his client and will decide in the following days whether to appeal it.

Anti - violence activists have closely followed the judicial process, hoping to promote reforms in France's laws and change the culture of the debate on rape and sexual violence involving drug abuse. / REL/