Sustainable Switch: The Pelicot trial and its significance
Dec 19 -By Sharon Kimathi
Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital
sharon.kimathi@thomsonreuters.com
Hello,
Today’s newsletter focuses on gender-based violence after the sentencing of Dominique Pelicot by a French court who found him guilty of repeatedly drugging and raping his wife for almost a decade and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her unconscious body in a case that horrified the world.
All the Frenchman's 50 co-defendants were also found guilty of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault, while their victim, Gisele Pelicot, sat in the packed courtroom to hear the sentencing, having waived her right to anonymity.
Gisele, 72, has become a stirring symbol of female courage and resilience during the three-month trial and crowds of supporters outside the courthouse in the southern city of Avignon cheered as news of the guilty verdicts filtered out.
The trial comes at a crucial time for women around the world who have been protesting for greater protections around gender-based violence and discrimination.
Here, we take a look at the trial’s significance not only in France, but also the ripple effects it may have for women’s rights.
Key points from the trial
Dominique Pelicot is a 72-year-old French man who has admitted to drugging his wife Gisèle and recruiting 50 other men, currently aged 26 to 74, to rape her over nearly a decade.
Investigators found 300 photographs and a video of the acts and filed them in folders, including one titled "Abuse," according to a court document.
"I am a rapist just like all the others in this room," Dominique said, adding, "I ask my wife, my children, my grandchildren to accept my apologies. I regret what I did. I ask for your forgiveness, even if it is not forgivable."
The couple had three children, David, Caroline and Florian, who arrived in court to hear the verdict alongside their mother. The siblings have spoken out forcibly against their father.
"Our family has been destroyed," 50-year-old David Pelicot, told the court. "I expect from this trial that ... these men, and that man in the dock (his father), will be punished for the horrors they inflicted on my mother," he added.
Their sister, Caroline Darian, who testified earlier in the trial, also told the court that she believed she had also been abused by her father.
There are also signs that the case has started shifting social and medical practices in France around drug-facilitated sexual assault, according to 10 doctors, social workers and activists Reuters spoke with.
Many people have turned out to support Gisèle Pelicot, both outside the court and at protests. In November, thousands marched in France to condemn violence against women.
‘A plague in our world’
This year, rising global discontent has fueled widespread protests by women demanding action against men's violence, highlighting persistent gender-based injustices and calls for systemic change.
One recent example comes from my home nation, Kenya, where police fired teargas and arrested at least three people as hundreds of people protested against a wave of femicides earlier this month.
Several hundred people – mostly women – marched in the capital Nairobi, where they blew whistles and chanted, "Stop killing women!". The protesters were peaceful and it was not clear why the police intervened.
Last month, South Korean feminist author Lee Min-gyeong spoke to Reuters, saying that Donald Trump's win in the U.S. presidential election would draw attention to women's rights and encourage more to jointhe 4B movement, which refers to no dating, no marriage, no childbirth and no sex in Korean — biyeonae, bihon, bichulsan and biseksu.
In October, a meeting of Commonwealth countries in Samoa focused on the income inequity, violence and structural discrimination faced by women, described by Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland as a "plague in our world".
It was only in April that the European Parliament adopted the first EU-wide rules on combating domestic abuse and violence against women. European Commission data revealed that one in three women in the 27-nation bloc has experienced some type of violence, often from intimate partners.
Talking Points
Vanuatu extreme weather: People on the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu braced for heavy rains and a possible cyclone, two days after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed at least 16 people, wrecked buildings and cut power and water supplies. Vanuatu has spearheaded efforts to get the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the legal obligation of countries to fight climate change and address its consequences.
Anti-LGBT: Ghana's Supreme Court dismissed two separate cases challenging the legality of one of Africa's most restrictive pieces of anti-LGBT legislation, paving the way for the president to sign it into law. The West African nation's parliament unanimously approved the bill in February which increases a crackdown on the rights of LGBT people.
DRC v Apple: Apple strongly disputes claims by lawyers for the Democratic Republic of Congo, who are suing the company for sourcing minerals from the region amid conflict and poor worker conditions. While Apple told suppliers to avoid using such minerals from Congo or Rwanda, DRC’s lawyers welcomed the statement "with satisfaction and caution" but will continue their legal cases in Europe.
Japan’s CO2 cuts: Japan's draft proposal for a 60% carbon emission reduction target by 2035 from 2013 levels, sparked calls for deeper cuts from experts as well as from within the ruling coalition, as the world's fifth-biggest carbon emitter struggles to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. Japan needs a 66% cut to align with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change target.
Transatlantic slavery: Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Brazil received around 5 million enslaved African people, mostly from Angola, in inhumane conditions, aboard Portuguese ships. The organizers of "A Grande Travessia" plan to charter a cruise ship from Santos, stopping in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador before reaching Luanda, Angola's capital, as part of a wider movement fighting for reparations over transatlantic slavery and European colonialism. Click here for the full Reuters report.
Montana lawsuit: The Montana Supreme Court upheld a landmark trial court decision in favor of 16 young people who said their health and futures were being jeopardized by climate change that the state aggravates through its permitting of energy projects.
ESG Lens
Click here for an in-depth investigation on the rising food crisis around the world, with a focus on Myanmar. It was hunger, not just the fighting, that pushed heavily-pregnant Juhara Begum to risk a perilous journey out of Myanmar’s Rakhine state. There was nothing to eat, so when her older son, a toddler, cried they gave him a piece of banana stem to suck on to relieve the hunger.
Besides Myanmar, Reuters found that in three other countries now suffering food crises – Ethiopia, Yemen and Sudan – governments or rebels have blocked or falsified the flow of data to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), or have tried to suppress IPC findings.
ESG Spotlight
Move over Moo Deng, there’s a new cute animal in town.
Adoring crowds are flocking to a zoo in Shanghai to watch Junjun, a bear cub just 11 months old, as he frolics in his enclosure playing with toys, such as a favourite tyre, or splashing in a water trough.
Standing 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and weighing more than 35 kg (77 lbs), the brown bear's every move captivates fans, who comment on his resemblance to a playful puppy and admire his fluffy fur coat.
Today’s Sustainable Switch was edited by Alexander Smith
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