Gisèle Pelicot endured the unthinkable. Her ex-husband and 50 attackers were just found guilty.

For almost a decade, Gisèle Pelicot endured a nightmare she didn't even know was happening.

The French mother and grandmother was repeatedly drugged and raped by her husband, Dominique Pelicot, who also invited strangers into the home to rape her whilst unconscious.

Gisèle wasn't aware of the assaults — despite her declining health and mental cognition due to the repeated drugging — until police arrested Dominique for filming up women's skirts in public.

It was then that his betrayal was uncovered, fastidiously filmed and documented by Dominique, and Gisèle was made aware of what happened.

Police alleged that as many as 72 men had gone to the house to abuse Gisèle, and 50 of them were identified and taken to court.

On December 19, a French court was finally able to find Dominique guilty. The court also found all 50 of Gisèle's identified attackers guilty of various charges.

The case has horrified the country, shining a spotlight onto the treatment of women, and transformed the victim, Gisèle Pelicot, into a stirring symbol of courage and resilience, after she waived her anonymity to have the case heard publicly.

Here's everything we know about the case, sentencing, and Gisèle's final statement.

Dominique Pelicot found guilty.

Gisèle Pelicot's ex-husband of 50 years, Dominique Pelicot, pleaded guilty to drugging her repeatedly for almost a decade.

He did so in order to rape her and offer up her unconscious body for sex to dozens of strangers he had met online, while videoing the abuse.

Upon reviewing the evidence, the court found him guilty on all charges.

A panel of five judges on December 19, sentenced him to the maximum 20 years in jail, as requested by prosecutors.

The Pelicots' children, David, Caroline and Florian, arrived in court to hear the verdict alongside their mother.

The siblings have spoken out forcibly against their father, rejecting his pleas for forgiveness.

Since the allegations came to light, Gisèle has divorced him.

Who else was found guilty in the Gisele Pelicot case?

All 50 of the co-defendants named in the case were found guilty.

The court found 46 of the co-defendants guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault.

The defendants come from all walks of life — truck drivers, soldiers, firefighters, security guards, farm workers, a supermarket worker, a journalist, and the unemployed.

The youngest suspect was just 22 when he entered Pelicot's bedroom, while the oldest was in his early 70s. Many had children and were in relationships.

Most lived within a 50km radius of the Pelicot's picturesque village of Mazan, which nestles in vineyards below Mont Ventoux.

Many of the accused had denied the charges, saying they thought it was a consensual sex game orchestrated by the couple and arguing that it was not rape if the husband approved.

Dominique Pelicot, 72, denied misleading the men, saying they knew exactly what they were doing.

"I am a rapist like the others in this room," he said during testimony.

Gisèle, 72, stared down her abusers with steely determination in the packed courtroom day after day, scoffing at any claim that she might have been a willing participant.

"I've decided not to be ashamed, I've done nothing wrong," she testified in October. "They are the ones who must be ashamed," she said.

A cheer went up outside the court in the southern French city of Avignon amongst her supporters when news of the first guilty verdicts filtered out.

During sentencing, the court imposed shorter terms than given to Dominique, with sentences from three to fifteen years handed down.

What happened to Gisèle Pelicot?

For almost a decade, Dominique Pelicot repeatedly drugged and raped his wife Gisèle, and invited dozens of other men to assault her as well.

Pelicot acknowledged that he had put powerful tranquillisers into his wife's food and coffee that put her to sleep for hours.

Police believe 72 men had gone to the house to rape and abuse Gisèle, but they were not able to identify them all.

Authorities say Dominique would recruit perpetrators via an online chatroom, where members fantasised about performing sexual acts on non-consenting partners.

Dominique told police that he had certain rules for the perpetrators he let into their family home to assault his then-wife.

No one was allowed to smoke, wear cologne, and they were told to warm their hands under hot water or on the heater so that they wouldn't risk cold hands bringing her back to consciousness.

How did Gisèle Pelicot find out?

The case only came to light in 2020, when Dominique was caught trying to take photographs up the skirts of women in a supermarket.

Police then discovered more than 20,000 photos and videos on his computer drives revealing the horrifying secrets that he had hidden from his now ex-wife for a decade.

Gisèle Pelicot was then summoned to a local police station in southern France.

She was 68 years old when she was told by police what they suspected her husband had been doing to her.

"The police saved my life by investigating," she said in court.

Leading up to 2020, Gisèle noticed her health was on the decline. She was losing hair and weight, and had gaps in her memory.

Gisèle said she was worried she was developing Alzheimer's or had a brain tumour. She initially praised her then-husband for supporting her during this time, and taking her to the doctor.

"He took me to the neurologist, for scans when I was worried," she said in court. "He also accompanied me to the gynecologist. For me, he was someone I had complete trust in."

Why didn't Dominique Pelicot get a longer sentence?

Prosecutors asked for (and were given) the maximum sentence for Dominique Pelicot, but acknowledged that it was not enough.

"The maximum sentence is 20 years, which is a lot... but at the same time... too little in view of the seriousness of the acts that were committed and repeated," public prosecutor Laure Chabaud said.

Gisèle herself told reporters that she respected the court decisions.

The trial has triggered protest rallies around France in support of Gisèle, and spurred much soul-searching, including a debate on whether to update France's rape law, which at present makes no mention that sex should involve consent.

What has Gisèle Pelicot said?

Gisèle Pelicot has become a symbol of female courage and resilience during the three-month trial. Crowds of supporters repeatedly gathered outside the courthouse.

She waived her right to anonymity during the trial and demanded that horrifying videos of the serial abuse should be seen in court, rather than hidden behind a veil.

Explaining her choice, she said, "I wanted... to ensure that society could see what was happening. I never have regretted this decision."

On the 35th day of the trial, she said she was "completely destroyed" and unsure of how she would recover from the abuse.

"Before continuing, I would like to address Mr Pélicot," she said. "I won't be able to look at him, the emotional burden is too much. Fifty years lived with this gentleman. I would like to call him Dominique today.

"So many times, I told myself that I was lucky to have you by my side.

"I don't understand how he could have got to this point. And I'm going to tell him: I've always tried to pull you up, towards the light. You chose the depths of the human soul. You're the one who chose."

Her rousing closing statement was equally as powerful.

"I've lost 10 years of my life that I'll never make up for," she said. "This scar will never heal. There'll forever be 51 people who have defiled me and I will have to live with this for the rest of my life."

In her first comments at the end of sentencing, Gisèle said that, while the trial was difficult, she did not regret her decision to let the case be heard in public.

"I now have confidence in our ability to collectively seize a future in which each woman and man can live in harmony with respect and mutual understanding.

"

Gisèle hopes that the public's involvement in her case will help other women who have suffered sexual abuse.

"I think of the unrecognised victims whose stories often remain in the shadows. I want you to know that we share the same fight," Gisèle said after the sentencing.

While she has become somewhat of a feminist icon, Gisèle has been humble in her approach to the many people calling her brave.

"It's not courage. It's determination to change things," she said.

"This is not just my battle, but that of all rape victims."

If you or anyone you know needs expert help, please contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) — the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service. If you are in immediate danger, call 000.

Written with AAP

Feature Image: Getty