Candy and stress relief: Support at trial for French rape survivor

When videos of the abuse she suffered are shown in court, Gisele Pelicot usually looks away, choosing instead to speak to a young woman sitting next to her.

The woman's presence puts the 71-year-old mass rape survivor at ease, and sometimes even a smile lights up her face.

Anne-Sophie Langlet, a representative of the Association for Mediation and Assistance to Victims (Amav), has been by Gisele's side since the opening of the harrowing trial in the southern city of Avignon on September 2, becoming her assistant and confidante.

Gisele's former husband, Dominique Pelicot, is on trial over raping and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife for almost a decade. He is in the dock with 50 other men, many of whom have denied the accusations.

Gisele has become a feminist icon in France and abroad, insisting from the start that the trial be open to the public to draw attention to the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

The hearings, which have attracted worldwide attention, have been incredibly difficult for Gisele, who said in September she was a "field of ruins".

Langlet said her task was not only to help Gisele and her three children to understand the legal proceedings, but also to provide moral support "in what she is going through, in the fight she is waging for all the victims."

"That's what she needs most, and I think that's why it's important for us to be there," said Langlet, who described herself as a "socio-legal assistant".

Unlike lawyers, Amav's employees must adopt a neutral stance.

"There's no complicity, no friendship," said Langlet.

"It's really about always being there for her and letting her know that, if she needs to say anything, we can take on board what she has to say," said Langlet.

"We've put in place a psychological safety net in case she needs it," added the legal expert who is sometimes replaced by two other colleagues.

Langlet said Gisele sometimes asks "why a defence lawyer is saying what he is saying".

Amav is one of 130 French associations which provide support to victims of criminal offences including rape and harassment.

"We have victims who have a lawyer but who also want us to help them because they need verbal support, because depending on the nature of the case, the lawyer is focused on the proceedings and doesn't have the time to look after his client," said the association's director, Magali Blasco.

"There's a relationship of trust that's been established beforehand, so we're a bit of a link with the lawyers."

In late August, the Avignon public prosecutor's office asked the association to accompany the family at the trial.

Langlet said she met Gisele 15 minutes before the opening hearing on September 2, and a "relationship of trust" was immediately established.

"We provide her with candy and she eats them at every recess," she said.