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Gis\u00e8le Pelicot, the French woman who earned international recognition after publicly testifying at her mass-rape trial last year, has been given France’s top honour.<\/p>\n
The 72-year-old was named knight of the Legion of Honour on a list announced ahead of France’s Bastille Day.<\/p>\n
Pelicot waived her right to anonymity during the high-profile trial against her husband who had drugged and raped her, in addition to inviting dozens of strangers to also abuse her over nearly a decade.<\/p>\n
Pelicot was among 589 other people given France’s highest award on Sunday.<\/p>\n
She attended almost every day of the trial, which ended last December with Dominique Pelicot, 72, being given a maximum 20 years in jail<\/a> for aggravated rape, after confessing to drugging her and recruiting around 50 men to rape her while she lay comatose in bed.<\/p>\n “I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can too,” Pelicot previously told reporters, adding that she wanted to make “shame swap sides” from the victim to the rapist.<\/p>\n