Gisèle Pelicot's ex-husband found guilty of rapes, sentenced to 20 years in prison in France

WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it. 

A court in France on Thursday sentenced the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot to a maximum 20 years of imprisonment for drugging and raping her and inviting other men to rape her while she was knocked out, in abuse that lasted nearly a decade.

The sentence against Dominique Pelicot was declared after he was found guilty of all charges against him. At age 72, it could mean that he spends the rest of his life in prison.

The verdict was read by the lead judge of the court in Avignon, Roger Arata.

Arata read out verdicts one after the other against Pelicot and 50 other men, declaring "you are therefore declared guilty of aggravated rape on the person of Mme. Gisèle Pelicot" as he worked his way through the first names on the list.

Gisèle Pelicot said the ordeal was "very difficult" and expressed support for other survivors of sexual violence.

"We share the same fight," she said.

Pelicot said she had her grandchildren in mind as she endured the more than three months of hearings, saying: "It's also for them that I led this fight."

The mass rape trial has shocked France and its implications will be felt far beyond the Avignon courthouse where judges have heard and seen more than three months of evidence.

Pelicot, 72, has become a feminist hero both at home and abroad for waiving her right to anonymity and standing up to her abusers in court.

The media doesn't typically identify survivors of sexual abuse. Usually, publication bans prevent the media from doing so in order to protect the privacy of survivors and encourage them to report the crimes in the first place. But Pelicot waived her legal right to anonymity.

Everything about the trial in the southern French city of Avignon has been exceptional, most of all Pelicot herself.

She has been the epitome of steely dignity and resilience through the more than three months of appalling testimony, including extracts from her now ex-husband's sordid library of homemade abuse videos.

Dominique Pelicot carefully catalogued how he habitually tranquilized his wife of 50 years during their last decade together so he and dozens of strangers he met online could rape her while she was unconscious.