Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir launches, turning horror into hope for survivors

Gisèle Pelicot has released a memoir that recounts her drugging and mass rape case and sends a powerful message of hope and support to victims of sexual abuse

PARIS -- Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir was released Tuesday in 22 languages worldwide, sharing details of the horror she went through and sending a powerful message of hope and support to victims of sexual abuse.

“I wanted my story to help others,” Pelicot told French national channel France 5 last week ahead of the release of her book, “A Hymn to Life, Shame has to Change Sides.”

Pelicot recounted her story of survival in the book and in her first series of interviews since the landmark 2024 trial that turned her into a global icon against sexual violence and imprisoned her husband who knocked her out with drugs so other men could assault her inert body.

“Today I’m doing better, and this book allowed me to engage in self-reflection, to take stock of my life,” she said. “I had to try to rebuild myself on this field of ruins. Today I am a woman standing strong."

Pelicot said her book is meant to deliver “a message of hope to all the women who are going through a very complicated period in their lives.”