Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman at the centre of a trial of 50 men who are accused of raping her after she was drugged by her then-husband, has said that she wants women who have been raped to know that “it’s not for us to have shame – it’s for them”.

“I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can too. I don’t want them to be ashamed any longer,” she said, referring to her request for an open trial and for the videos of the alleged rapes to be shown.

Gisèle, 72, was taking the stand following a request from her legal team that she be given the chance to respond to the evidence and testimony that have been shared so far at the trial.

Addressing her former husband as Mr Pelicot, Gisèle said: “I wish I could still call him Dominique. We lived together for 50 years, I was a happy, fulfilled woman.”

“You were a caring, attentive husband, and I never doubted you. We shared laughter and tears,” she added, her voice breaking.

Dominique has admitted to recruiting men online to rape his wife while she was under the effect of heavy sedatives and sleeping pills that he administered to her in secret for a decade.

Most of the alleged rapes were filmed.

The majority of the defendants deny raping Gisèle, and argue that they cannot be guilty because they did not realise she was unconscious and therefore did not “know” they were raping her.