Gisèle and Cassie: When shame changed sides

Gisèle and Cassie: When shame changed sides

Shame. It was imposed on Gisele Pelicot and Cassie Ventura. Both of them refused to carry its burden. For over 50 years, Dominique Pelicot was Gisele’s husband, co-parent, and life partner. But in a four-month trial, as she faced him and the men he had brought into their home, he was no longer any of those things. He was her rapist, her tormentor, her oppressor — the man who had drugged her into unconsciousness so he could record strangers, recr…