A MOST extraordinary rape trial is currently unfolding in France where the victim, Gisèle Pelicot, took to the stand today having been applauded into court.

Only Ms Pelicot, 71, is determined not to play the part of victim.

Her husband, Dominique, of 50 years – with whom she shares three children and seven grandchildren – has admitted to drugging and raping her and inviting upwards of 70 other men, whom he encountered in a chatroom called “without her knowledge”, to rape her while she was drugged.

Ms Pelicot’s entire life crumbled away when she discovered what her “perfect” husband had been doing to her for a decade.

She demanded that the trial be held in public, waiving her own right to anonymity, and in court she insisted that there is no shame for her – the shame is on the men in the dock.

They range in age from 26 to 74, come from all walks of life, and most lived within a 60km radius of the Pelicots’ village home in south-eastern France. Many of them say they had suffered traumatic, abusive childhoods.

The shocking case is shaking France to the core, forcing it to look at how it views women – one of the defendants said that in custody he had come to realise that “women do not belong to men” – and also at how much abuse of minors as well as women is going on, concealed.

Ms Pelicot has been hailed as a feminist icon, but we can all draw inspiration for her bravery, for her determination to speak up for others and her desire to change her country for the better.

She told the court in Avignon today: "I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can too. I don't want them to be ashamed any longer." Even out of something as grim as this some good can come.