Gisele Pelicot's public appearances made all the difference in her case, sending a clear message to survivors they weren't alone and curbing stigma.

Gisele Pelicot, the 72-year-old woman at the center of the horrifying rape trial that ended on Thursday with the conviction of 51 men, including her husband, has rightly been hailed as a hero. The judicial proceedings,

Most of the accused received sentences of eight to 10 years, less than the 10- to 18-year terms that the public prosecutor had recommended.

Gisèle Pelicot spoke of her ''very difficult ordeal'' after 51 men were convicted Thursday in the drugging-and-rape trial that riveted France and turned her into an icon, expressing support for other victims whose cases don't get such attention and ''whose stories remain untold.

AVIGNON, France (AP) — A court in France on Thursday sentenced the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious, in abuse that lasted nearly a decade.

Gisele Pelicot said in a statement that she "never regretted" the decision to make her trial public, after a French court found her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot guilty on Thursday of repeatedly drugging and raping her for almost a decade,

Dominique Pelicot and 50 co-defendants have all been found guilty, with all except one having been charged with rape. The co-defendants were sentenced Thursday to between three an

The ex-husband of a woman in France was handed a 20-year prison sentence on Thursdaay for drugging and raping her and inviting other men to participate.

A French court found Dominique Pelicot guilty on Thursday of repeatedly drugging and raping his wife for almost a decade, and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her unconscious body. All the Frenchman's 50 co-defendants were also found guilty of rape,