Gisèle Pelicot, who became a feminist icon following the Mazan rape trials, has been awarded the 2025 Freedom Prize for her fight against the normalisation of rape and sexual violence, the regional authorities in Normandy, France, announced on Tuesday.
The Liberty Prize, awarded by 10,000 young people from 84 countries including France, comes with a €25,000 award. It will be presented to Ms Pelicot on 3 June in front of thousands of youths and 30 World War II veterans, according to a statement issued by the region.
Belgium's War Affected People’s Association (WAPA), which supports children affected by armed conflict, and Melati Wijsen, a 24-year-old Indonesian activist combating the environmental impact of plastic, were also nominees for the prize.
Aimed at promoting education about freedom, peace, and human rights, the Freedom Prize encourages young people aged 15 to 25 in France and globally to annually select a person or organisation engaged in a recent, exemplary fight for freedom.
Ms Pelicot endured a decade of rapes by her ex-husband, who sedated her, and by at least 50 strangers he recruited online.
When her case was tried in 2024, she became a feminist icon after insisting on a public trial, rejecting closed-door proceedings so as to shift the “shame” away from victims, as she said.
Selected among Time magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People of 2025’ in mid-April, Ms Pelicot is also one of the three finalists for the Council of Europe’s Vigdis Prize.
