Stories du Moment
Prime ministers, monsters, and Brigitte Macron
I don’t think there’s a clinical term for chronic disgust but it would go a long way in describing my general state of being in the last several weeks. The further out we get from the Olympics and Paralympics ending, the more I’m convinced it was an idyllic intermission that generated a dopamine high so unusual for us in France that it has made the comedown all the more formidable. Without even taking into account the U.S. election (are you an American living abroad? Do your thing!!), there’s been plenty to haunt my dreams and send my nervous system spinning.
THE TRIAL ROCKING FRANCE
(SA trigger warning)
By now, you’ve probably read or at least heard about about one of the most shocking rape cases to be uncovered in France—it has made headlines all over the world for good reason. For a decade, Dominique Pelicot drugged his wife of 50 years, Gisèle Pelicot, and recruited 51 strangers to rape her as she lay unconscious. The men range from age 26 to 74, and span socioeconomic backgrounds— among them journalists, soldiers, firefighters, and engineers. Many have families of their own.
Pelicot’s crimes were only uncovered by police in November 2020 when he was investigated for taking upskirt photographs of women in the supermarket. On his computer, police found “Abuses”, a folder on a USB drive, housing some 20,000 photos and videos of him and other men raping his wife while unconscious. For ten years, she struggled with memory lapses, hair loss, and weight loss. She thought she was experiencing something akin to Alzheimer’s. None of her physicians detected or even investigated abuse at home.
In an act of tremendous courage that I don’t think I’d be capable of, Gisèle, now a symbol of the fight against sexual violence, waived her right to anonymity to make the proceedings public, allowing journalists inside the courtroom and helping to shift the shame onto her aggressors. The hope is also to raise awareness on the need for “legal recognition of coercive control”, including chemical submission.
The trial was unfolding as the world also learned of the horrific attack on Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, set on fire by her former partner. Rebecca didn’t survive. Gisèle did— although she admits to feeling suicidal shortly after learning what her partner had done to her. Instead, she resolved to find a way to carry on and do her part in ensuring this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
What shakes me to my core is not only that this violence reveals deep-rooted misogyny but how often these acts are perpetrated by individuals the victims know. What sickens me is that three of the men who came to the Pelicot home and opted not to abuse Gisèle left and reported nothing. What enrages me is that when Dominique Pelicot admitted to these rapes on trial yesterday, he blamed his troubled childhood. He asked for forgiveness. We ask that he and the 51 depraved men who abused her serve the maximum sentence possible.
And then there’s this point, here:
1 in 3 women globally are subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Very few are believed or have cases visible enough to generate the widespread support that Gisèle Pelicot has gotten on her quest for justice.
French women have taken to the streets in support of Gisèle and what her case represents for women everywhere. What’s missing is the same level of action, outrage, and support from male allies. The only way this stops is when this kind of violence is perceived as a societal, HUMAN issue and not a feminist one.
MACRON NAMED A PRIME MINISTER…😬
He’s an old white guy but that’s not even the main issue. Macron seemed to pull Michel Barnier, the right-wing former Brexit negotiator and career politician, out of his pocket like a magic trick after months of dragging French voters along. Sure, he has decades of experience, but his most significant credential in Macron’s mind is that he is not from the left coalition. Ultimately, it’s a win for Marine Le Pen’s far right party with whom Barnier will need to compromise to avoid getting slapped with a motion of censure.
I’ll let the political analyst (and my friend) Rym Momtaz do the deeper interpreting:
WHY DID FRANCE ARREST THE TELEGRAM CEO?
This story has already been eclipsed by many others but it’s important to understand. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris in late August, for the company’s refusal to cooperate with a French police inquiry into child sex abuse. Reportedly, arrest warrants were issued after multiple judicial requests to identify a Telegram user suspected of crimes against minors went unanswered. The basis for the arrest? A fairly recent law enacted in January 2023. According to Reuters, the law has “no international equivalent that criminalises tech titans whose platforms allow illel products or activities. It has placed France at the forefront of a group of nations taking a sterner stance on crime-ridden websites. But the law is so recent that prosecutors have yet to secure a conviction.”
My friend Rahaf Harfoush, who writes an *excellent* newsletter covering digital culture, explained the implications:
Charging the CEO of a social media platform for the content created and circulated on that platform is unprecedented, raising complex questions about responsibility and liability for harmful online content. If Durov can be held accountable, does that mean every other tech CEO—from Musk to Zuckerberg—could also be on the hook? The answer, like everything these days, is far from simple.
Telegram, founded by Durov in 2013 as a defiant response to the Russian government’s crackdown on free expression, has always positioned itself as a bastion of privacy and encrypted communication. It’s a lifeline for activists, dissidents, and everyday users seeking protection from prying eyes. But that same promise of privacy has made it a preferred tool for those with far more sinister agendas. Durov’s hands-off approach to moderation has turned Telegram into a hotbed for gun running, drug trafficking, terrorist activities, child exploitation, and conspiracy theories. As encrypted spaces rise, they bring with them a disturbing complexity: where does private communication end and criminal activity begin?
EMILY MEETS BRIGITTE
The running joke is that in the four+ years Emily has been in Paris, she still doesn’t speak French and she meets Brigitte Macron before she encounters a North African. The cringe this show delivers is always epic but Brigitte Macron agreeing to make a cameo takes it— and L’Elysée— to a new level of tone deaf.
🏅 BONUS: because many of us are stuck in post-Olympics blues, you may be happy to know that the Paris 2024 anthem song is now available on streaming platforms everywhere. Listen on Spotify. Listen on Apple Music.
EVENT UPDATE
Join me and author-journalist Cody Delistraty for a conversation about his book The Grief Cure at The American Library in Paris on October 1! RSVP requested for in-person attendance (no entry fee).
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The level of depravity that Gisele endured- I cannot even fathom having the wherewithal to continue living, much less stand up to her husband and pride of predators that raped her. Thanks for sharing her story, I had not heard much about it until now. I hope she wins this case - better yet- I hope a law will be in written to protect women from men like this.
Very informative newsletter. Certainly lots to think about!