Candy and stress relief: support at trial for French rape survivor

Gisele Pelicot, a mass rape survivor, finds comfort and support from her assistant during a harrowing trial in France.

When videos of the abuse she suffered are shown in court, Gisele Pelicot usually looks away, choosing instead to speak to a young woman sitting next to her.

The woman's presence puts the 71-year-old mass rape survivor at ease, and sometimes even a smile lights up her face.

Anne-Sophie Langlet, a representative of the Association for Mediation and Assistance to Victims (Amav), has been by Gisele's side since the opening of the harrowing trial in the southern city of Avignon on September 2, becoming her assistant and confidante.

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Gisele's former husband, Dominique Pelicot, is on trial over raping and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife for almost a decade. He is in the dock with 50 other men, many of whom have denied the accusations.

Ms. Gisele has become a feminist icon in France and abroad, insisting from the start that the trial be open to the public to draw attention to the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

The hearings, which have attracted worldwide attention, have been incredibly difficult for Ms. Gisele, who said in September she was a "field of ruins".