Overview

• On July 13, Pelicot and American musician-designer Pharrell Williams were named chevaliers of France’s Legion of Honour, the country’s top civic award, among 589 recipients selected ahead of Bastille Day.
• Pelicot publicly waived her right to anonymity at a 2024 Avignon trial that exposed a decade of drugging and orchestrated rapes by her former husband and accomplices.
• In December, Avignon judges sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison and found 50 co-defendants guilty in one of France’s most notorious mass-rape cases.
• Her testimony and advocacy led lawmakers to amend France’s rape laws to strengthen victim protections and prosecutorial powers.
• Since the trial, Pelicot has stepped back from media engagements and is focusing on writing a memoir due for publication in 2026.