International

Pelicot case: turning point for social shame to fall on the aggressors?

The brutality of the sexual violence suffered for a decade by Gisèle Pelicot has generated a resounding social rejection. However, his courageous request that shame change sides, from victims to aggressors, is far from being a reality in a society in which sexual assaults are daily and women are discredited.

There were at least ten years during which Gisèle’s husband drugged her at night and offered his body to other men on the Internet, who arranged visits to the conjugal home to rape the woman. More than fifty aggressors are accused, including the husband, who recorded and stored the aggressions on his computer and whom Gisèle believed was “a cool guy.”

Shame: from victims to abusers?

After learning of the violence suffered, and convinced by his daughter, Pelicot has asked that the hearings of the trial be public, has shown his face and has requested through his lawyer that his case serve to change sides: from the victims to the aggressors.

Shame, silence, questioning and discredit have been elements that have historically deepened the revictimization of those who suffer sexual violence, so that the sentence requested by Pelicot can ignite and extend to all cases?

The director of the Women’s Foundation, Marisa Soleto, explains to EFE that society only reflects when an event of extraordinary gravity occurs.

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“Statistics show a figure of violence against women in European society that can reach 40% of the female population. It seems that we need events of extraordinary gravity to be ashamed of what is an everyday event for millions of women in Europe,” she says.

“What should scandalize us is habituality”

“What should scandalize us is the habituality and frequency; as long as we have this habituality and this frequency, we are not safe from the fact that from time to time a fatal event occurs (…) It does not seem that society is about to react in the appropriate way,” he continues.

The spokeswoman of the Federation of Progressive Women Blanca Esther Aranda emphasizes that “we are in a patriarchal culture that continues to treat women as liars and hysterical and in which men have not unlearned their complicity with the culture of rape.”

In addition, this “sexist society considers women as less valid and their word is worth less.”

In this sense, the lawyer expert in defense of victims of sexual crimes Nahxeli Beas points out that society continues to blame the survivors (“that woman will have done something to trigger the violence received”), focusing on the victim and thinking that only certain women can suffer this violence, “when it is more than proven that they cross all social strata.”

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This reality is aggravated when the victim does not show the behavior that society considers impeccable. In the event that she is conceived as a perfect victim, “pity”, fragility is poured on her and infantile.

Complicit society

That punishment results in his shame, something that in turn has a direct impact on his silencing. Thus, society is complicit in the aggressors, underlines the lawyer, who recalls that one in four girls suffers sexual abuse in childhood: “It happens in our families and we have to be able to look it in the eye.”

“As a society we have a responsibility: we always think that those responsible are the aggressors, when we don’t think it’s women or alcohol, and we have to think that we all have a relationship with this violence,” says Beas.

“How many times do I not have a user in the Association of Assistance to Sexually Assaulted Women (AADAS) who comes to tell me about some facts and tells me that some friend, neighbor or co-worker does not want to testify because they do not want problems. The lack of social involvement reaches that level,” says the expert.

From the Association of Women Jurists Themis, its vice president Pino de la Nuez affirms that the denial of sexual violence exists in society, as well as the intentionality of hiding and not making these situations visible.

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Neither monsters nor sick people

In Soleto’s opinion, treating the case of France as an extraordinary fact makes it difficult to take measures of social and cultural change to eradicate the real problem, which is that “sexual abuse of women is implanted in culture in such a way that there are certain people to whom it may seem normal.”

Aranda indicates that it is not assumed that the aggressors are normal men, not monsters: “They are men who have normalized absolutely desictable behaviors. An explanation is sought for something exceptional when unfortunately the data say that sexual violence is continuous and devastating,” he says.

And therefore, “men must break the silence” and “denounce the violent behavior of other men.”

The AADAS lawyer denounces that the stereotype of monstrosity is still in force, “when it has long been shown that sexual violence is not associated with any pathology.” “We must analyze why we continue to build a masculinity in which sexual violence is necessary,” he reflects.

Extreme cases like that of France, Beas points out, far from pointing out sexual violence as structural, everyday and transversal to women’s lives, from putting the structures of patriarchy in check.

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Gisèle’s courage

The experts recognize the courage of the French victim. Aranda believes that her phrase that shame changes sides will be “history of feminism” and Soleto extols her willingness to be in solidarity with all the victims who feel shame and do not dare to denounce.

Now, they insist that the survivors cannot be required to behave heroicly or that it falls on their backs that shame turns sides towards the aggressors. It is something that society must achieve.
“We have to stop putting the weight on women,” Beas concludes.

International

WHO worker killed as Israeli forces fire on Gaza medical convoy

An employee of the World Health Organization (WHO) was killed on Monday in Gaza Strip after Israeli forces opened fire on a medical convoy transporting patients for evacuation, according to witnesses and official accounts.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the vehicle approached troops in a “threatening manner,” alleging that the driver accelerated toward soldiers despite warning shots. “The troops fired warning shots. The vehicle continued advancing, and additional fire was directed at it,” the military said in a statement.

The army also claimed the vehicle lacked clear markings and was therefore treated as a potential threat.

However, survivors disputed that account. Raed Aslan, a passenger in the convoy, told reporters in Khan Younis that the vehicles were clearly marked with WHO insignia. “The vehicle was clearly identified as belonging to the WHO,” he said, adding that an Israeli tank blocked the road and fired at the driver despite the route being empty.

The convoy was transporting patients to the Rafah crossing, the only exit point available for medical evacuations abroad, as Israel does not permit transfers to Jerusalem or the West Bank.

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The incident adds to a series of controversial cases involving Israeli military actions against humanitarian convoys. In April 2024, seven workers from World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah. The military initially cited a “misidentification,” despite the vehicles being clearly marked.

Similarly, in March 2025, 15 paramedics, rescuers, and a UN worker were killed near Rafah. Israeli authorities first claimed emergency lights were off, but video evidence later contradicted that assertion.

A subsequent investigation by organizations including Forensic Architecture found that Israeli forces fired hundreds of rounds at the convoy, and that the vehicles were later destroyed and buried along with the bodies before being recovered days later.

The latest incident is likely to intensify scrutiny over the conduct of military operations in Gaza, particularly regarding the safety of humanitarian personnel and medical evacuations.

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International

NASA’s Orion sets record as farthest crewed mission from Earth

NASA’s Orion spacecraft set a new milestone on Monday, becoming the crewed space mission to travel the farthest distance from Earth, surpassing the record set by Apollo 13, which reached 400,171 kilometers from the planet.

The Orion capsule, part of the Artemis II mission, achieved the record at 12:57 p.m. Eastern Time as it continued its journey toward the gravitational sphere of influence of the Moon.

The milestone came less than an hour before the crew was scheduled to begin observation activities during its planned lunar flyby.

“From here, in the ‘Integrity Cabin,’ as we surpass the greatest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth, we do so honoring the extraordinary efforts and achievements of those who came before us in human space exploration,” said Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The mission, which launched last Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, is designed to orbit the Moon and return to Earth within ten days. According to the schedule, the spacecraft is expected to begin its lunar flyby at 2:45 p.m. ET, concluding around 9:20 p.m.

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International

Petro accuses top guerrilla leader of bribing officers to evade military strikes

Colombian President defends his government's social reforms

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, said Saturday that the country’s most wanted guerrilla leader is bribing members of the security forces to obtain advance information and evade military operations.

According to the government, Iván Mordisco, a dissident leader of the now-defunct FARC, is currently on the run in the जंगल following an الجيش bombardment last week that killed six of his closest collaborators in the department of Vaupés.

Authorities believe the guerrilla commander had been at the site shortly before the operation. “He buys off the commanders who are supposed to capture him; that’s how he escapes the bombings, but leaves his own people to die. He is warned before every strike,” Petro wrote on social media platform X.

The six individuals killed in the strike were part of Mordisco’s security ring, according to Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Local media reported that one of those killed was a woman known as “alias Lorena,” who was allegedly Mordisco’s partner and the mother of his child.

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After failed attempts to negotiate peace, Petro’s administration has shifted to a more aggressive military strategy against the guerrilla leader. In recent months, three of Mordisco’s brothers have been captured and now face charges including homicide, kidnapping, and arms trafficking.