Women This Week: Gisèle Pelicot is France’s New Feminist Hero

Incoming French Justice Minister Announces Support for Strengthening French Rape Laws  

The courage of Gisèle Pelicot—whose husband is on trial for orchestrating her rape by dozens of men——has captivated France and invigorated a push to revise French law. On Friday, the incoming French justice minister—Didier Miguad—said that he supported adding the notion of “consent” to the legal definition of rape in France. The current rape law in France explicitly mentions “violence, coercion, threat or surprise” but does not include consent. Gisele’s husband, Dominique Pelicot, has pled guilty to drugging his wife to rape her and inviting strangers over to participate in the sexual abuse, frequently filming the assaults. Between 2011 and 2020, Dominique is alleged to have orchestrated rapes with roughly eighty men, fifty of whom have been identified and are on trial for aggravated rape. Gisèle chose to make the trial public, despite privacy protections in France, so that “when other women, if they wake up with no memory, they might remember the testimony of Ms. Pelicot,” she explained, “No woman should suffer from being drugged and victimized.” Thousands of people have taken to social media and demonstrated to show support for Gisèle.  

Indigenous Women Use Innovative Tools to Reduce Pollution in Andean Lake 

A group of Indigenous women are working to remove urban waste and mining pollution from Bolivia’s Lake Uru Uru. The lake was once used for drinking water, fishing, and irrigation but became increasingly toxic after years of environmental neglect. The women—who call themselves the Uru Uru team—use native weeds known as totora to absorb metals and contaminants in the water. These efforts have reduced pollution by 30 percent, leading to some environmental restoration, including the return of plants and animals. The group has planted about three thousand totora plants so far but aims to plant a thousand more to completely clean up the lake. “Indigenous people know that if a lake dies, it’s as if the soul of a people dies,” said Tatiana Blanco, who co-founded the Uru Uru team with her sister, Dayana, in 2019. “With colonialism and globalisation, new generations have lost their way,” she said. “They’ve forgotten where they’ve come from and that we are not superior to animals, plants, mountains, lakes, and rivers. It is because of this lack of respect and care for nature and mother Earth that there’s an imbalance.” The group has received international support from the United Nations. 

Sri Lanka Appoints Female Prime Minister for First Time in Decades  

This week, the new Sri Lankan president from the left-leaning National People’s Power Alliance, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, named Dr. Harini Amarasuriya the new prime minister. Amarasuriya, the third woman to hold this post, first entered politics in 2020 after being elected to parliament. She has a background in academia and activism and is recognized for her commitment to social justice and advocacy for children’s and women’s rights. In her new role, Amarasuriya will take on portfolios for justice, education, labour, industries, science & tech, health, and investment. This is an important expansion of her role, as Amarasuriya has previously spoken of a perception among colleagues and others that as a woman, she was only “expected to only focus on women-centric issues and not be interested in other topics.”