Milan, 12 February (LaPresse) – ‘I no longer wish to be considered a victim.’ This is what Gisèle Pelicot said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro on the occasion of the release of her book ‘Et la joie de vivre’ (And the joy of living). Pelicot, who was drugged, raped and forced to endure years of sexual abuse by strangers at the behest of her husband Dominique Pelicot, has become a global icon in the fight against sexual violence, especially since she chose to keep the trial against her husband and dozens of other men involved behind closed doors. When asked why she wrote the book, Gisèle Pelicot replied: 'Throughout the trial, I was defined as a victim. Today, I no longer want that status. I was sacrificed on the altar of vice. I was handed over to these individuals. Writing this book was a way to break out of this framework in which I felt imprisoned, to tell who I really am. I have laid my soul bare in this book: I talk about my journey as a woman, adultery, the mother-daughter relationship, how a normal family deals with the unimaginable. It is a kind of testament.‘ Regarding the title of her forthcoming book, ’Et la joie de vivre‘, translated as ’A Hymn to Life", Gisèle Pelicot explains: ‘I think this joie de vivre is part of my DNA. My life has been marked by numerous tragedies, in particular my mother's illness and death when I was a child. I wanted to tell how I overcame these trials. I wanted to give hope to women who, like me, may one day feel powerless.’