Sarah Owen

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

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1. “It costs us nothing, and we gain everything. That is incredibly important. The second report concerns medical misogyny, which we have already heard about. There is this constant feeling of not being listened to—being patted on the head, sent off and told to get a hot water bottle and some paracetamol and just crack on with it. Fortunately, that does not happen to men in the same way. When we were looking at a title for the report, it was said that medical misogyny seems quite hard, but it is really difficult to describe it as anything else: women are subjected to painful procedures, such as intrauterine device insertions or hysteroscopies, without any pain relief, and training is far too low in gynaecology. One of the report’s recommendations is that gynaecology becomes part of mandatory rotation.”

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2. “It is not a sickness, so sick pay is not an adequate replacement for time to grieve when it comes to miscarriage and miscarriage bereavement leave. That is what we heard from the brave women and families who gave evidence to our Committee. When I experienced miscarriage, nobody gave me a squeeze and told me to get well; they gave me a squeeze and said, “I am sorry for your loss.” It is definitely time the Government caught up with public opinion on this issue. There are good examples: the NHS offers bereavement leave for those who miscarry, as do Dentsu and the Co-op Group. They are not all doing it out of the kindness of their hearts. When questioned by two separate Select Committees as to how much it costs the largest public sector employer of women, which is the NHS, the response was that it is de minimis—it is negligible.”

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3. “It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I thank my hon. Friend the incredible Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) for bring this important debate to Westminster Hall. As Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, I will focus on our two reports on women’s health because, as we have heard, we have some way to go to improve things. The first report followed our inquiry into the need for miscarriage bereavement leave. Campaigners from all parties have been calling for that for a number of years, and it is time the law caught up with public opinion. That is what our inquiry found and what our report clearly states. We have tabled an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill that clearly lays out the need for time to grieve following miscarriage.”

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4. “I appreciate the Minister’s apology, but to have taken such a stance would have meant her losing her job. Although we can always reflect and do better in hindsight, we have to be kind to ourselves and give ourselves the space to be able to see the grace in ourselves as well.”

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5. “We must stay united in the fight, because an attack on one of us is an attack on all, and hatred never stays in one lane for long.”

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6. “It was wonderful to see the Prime Minister casually taking an HIV test, which is not something that we would have seen in the past. The Minister and the shadow Minister spoke eloquently about the stigma around HIV, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Chris Vince). Tackling that stigma is so important, but it is really difficult to break it down when those in power continue to punch down. We have seen that with President Trump’s devastating cuts to USAID, which have left millions across the world without access to lifesaving antiretrovirals. What will the UK do to fill the gap? As we have seen in the US, progress is never inevitable. I hope this Government can address the concerns of the LGBTQI community, and of those who want to live in a society free from persecution and barriers to healthcare services and safety.”

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7. “We need to build up society’s trust in the Government to protect the most vulnerable from such crimes. We have a lot of work to do. Banning conversion therapy has received cross-party support, and I look forward to finding out when we will see a timeline for the ban to come into force. As we heard in the Women and Equalities Committee yesterday, we need to commit to making it trans inclusive, and I would be grateful if that commitment could be reiterated from the Dispatch Box today. When will Ministers commit to a timeline for bringing forward the plan to make anti-LGBT hate crime an aggravated offence? We have spoken about the new HIV action plan and building on the work of the previous Government, and I am really pleased that we have that.”

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8. “I know that the Minister for Women and Equalities, my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) called the process “intrusive, outdated and humiliating” in 2022. That is just as true today as it was then, and I would welcome an update from the Minister on when the GRA will be reviewed. While we all debate this issue, LGBTQ+ people are being isolated further. They are being targeted and talked about, which is coming through clear in the statistics. The number of hate crimes against LGBT+ people increased from 4,345 in 2011-12 to 22,339 in 2023-24. That increase is huge, and it affects real people’s lives. There is also a huge amount of under-reporting, because we know that only one in eight victims report homophobic or transphobic hate crimes to the police.”

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9. “We have talked about vitamin D, calcium, healthy diets and all the things that would address some of the concerns about puberty blockers. Why is it that the ban is explicitly only for their use in treating people with gender dysphoria? Why is it safe for people with endometriosis, prostate cancer or precocious prepubescence to take puberty blockers, but not for those experiencing gender dysphoria? The Women and Equalities Committee heard evidence from endocrinologists with brains the size of small planets, which was incredibly informative. There is much work to be done, but we need to ensure that it is done fairly, inclusively and with the community, not against it. There is also a plan to reform the Gender Recognition Act, to make it easier for trans people to change their legal gender.”

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10. “The Women and Equalities Committee held an inquiry, and I am proud to say that although there were diverse opinions among Committee members—I am pleased to see some of them here—and the witnesses themselves, the debate was conducted with dignity and respect, with evidence and with a willingness to try to understand, which has all too long been missing. I cannot yet say what recommendations will come out, because I will get into trouble, but we need to be part of a solution. It is not just about pointing out what the problems are. Although the Minister said that the use of puberty blockers poses unclear risks of harm, we need to look at the unclear risks of harm from not being able to provide healthcare for trans people when they need it. What can be done to mitigate some of those harms?”

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11. “When will the LGBTQI+ community be able to feel the benefits of these laudable and beneficial aims? We have seen many members of that community feeling scared. It is not just about looking across the pond and seeing that their existence has been completely wiped out by President Trump and the richest man in the world; there is also a feeling that there is a rowing back in the UK. I want us to address some of the issues, and I hope the Minister will be able to explain, perhaps in writing, where we are on some of these points. The indefinite ban on puberty blockers for young trans people has been mentioned.”

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12. “I am pleased that the Minister confirmed at the Women and Equalities Committee yesterday that the ban will be trans inclusive. She gave her commitment on that. We need to ensure that LGBT+ hate crime constitutes an aggravated offence in the same way as other hate crime offences. We need to bring forward a new HIV action plan, and I am glad that many hon. Members have spoken about that already. We need to right the wrongs endured by LGBT+ veterans, which I know this Government are taking aim at; modernise the law on gender recognition; fix the NHS; and recruit 8,500 more mental health workers. All those are brave and laudable aims, but one thing that has been missing is a timeframe—a schedule for when all these fantastic plans will be put into place.”

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13. “Over a decade ago, the previous Labour Government introduced some fantastic measures: they removed the terrible section 28 from the statute book; passed a law allowing trans people to legally change their gender; and introduced the Equality Act to protect LGBT+ people from discrimination. Labour also lifted the ban on lesbians, gay men and bi people serving in the armed forces; introduced civil partnerships, which—I give credit to the previous Conservative Government—paved the way for same-sex marriage; and brought in laws to allow unmarried couples, including same-sex couples, to apply for joint adoption. I am pleased that we have that legacy and foundation to build on, but build on it we must. The plan proposed in the Labour manifesto was to deliver a trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices.”

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14. “We had an election last year, and I am so proud that my first official engagement was Pride in Luton. Every year it gets bigger and better, and there are more supporters, more attendees and more fun. I took my family with me, and my then four-year-old asked me, “What’s Pride, mummy?” I said, “Pride is a celebration, but it’s also a protest. She said, “Okay.” I said, “Pride is a protest and a celebration of people loving who they want to love and being who they are.” Her reaction was, “Okay,” and she shrugged. We had the best time ever, and I hope that Pride long continues. But we did not get here without a fight.”

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15. “My dearest friend Helgi was one of the first out LGBT council members of the Royal College of Anaesthetists. I have spoken quite often in this place about the multiple miscarriages I have experienced. I could not have found myself at a darker time than I did then. He was there in the surgery to hold my hand and help me through one of the most difficult procedures, to remove two of the babies that did not make it out. He was my friend and was there when I woke up. That is the strength of the community. That is the strength of allyship. Right now, they are the ones being attacked. They are the ones feeling isolated. They are the ones feeling without hope. So I make a plea to every ally and to everybody to use their voice to stand up for the many who have used their voices to stand up for our rights, our dignity and our future.”

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16. “They went ahead, and all of a sudden, when we came out with our chips and kebabs, I could feel things hitting my head. They were throwing chips at us. Those chips suddenly became punches to my face, and they pushed me to the ground. Who stood up and fought for me? My gay best friends and my non-binary friend took on five blokes for me—I did not stop fighting either, but they were there when I needed them. I have worked across different communities on various campaigns, particularly human rights campaigns, and when I have lost those campaigns, my dearest friend Paul has been there to pick me up when I was crying and broken and thought I could not carry on. He showed me the importance of that, because of his experiences of fighting for equality throughout the ’80s and the ’90s and, unfortunately, in 2025.”

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17. “As a straight woman, I relied on that community and my friends to hold me up, because they had the strength when I did not. When I was in my 20s, I used to go out out—as Miley Cyrus says, I used to be young. On one night, I was out out with one of my gay best friends and my non-binary friend. We had gone to a gay club because, unsurprisingly, and for a reason that I cannot possibly put my finger on, I felt safer and able to have more fun in gay nightclubs than I did in straight clubs as a 20-year-old single woman of that time. I cannot think why that might be. We were on our way home, and we wanted chips and a kebab—standard, right? In the queue was a group of lads. They start giving me abuse, with sexual connotations, and me being myself, I did not shut up; I did not take that lying down. I gave as good as I was getting.”

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18. “Any of us know that the LGBTQIA+ community is far from all those things, because fighting for who you are and to love who you want to love in the face of hatred, humiliation and persecution is one of the bravest things any of us could ever do. The trans community have to live every day in a body that does not reflect who they truly are—that is courage, and all against a backdrop of conversations about them, without them, particularly for trans men. Some of the strongest, least snowflake people I could ever have in my life are from the LGBT community. I am so proud to call them my friends. They are basically my extended family; they are the family I chose. They fight to be who they are, and they fight to exist now. I am going to give some personal examples from when I was perhaps at my weakest.”

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19. “It is always an honour to take part in this annual debate commemorating, celebrating and protesting for LGBT+ History Month. I will start by saying that I am incredibly disappointed that there are not more Members of the House present to hear what I know will be a really informative, heartfelt, genuine debate. The theme for LGBT+ History Month this year is activism and social change, but given what the LGBTQIA+ community is facing at the moment in the media and in political rhetoric, perhaps a more appropriate theme would be survival and existence. We see powerful people—rich people—at home and abroad punching down, referring to the LGBT community as woke, snowflake, weak and fragile.”

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20. “It is the beginning of LGBT History Month. Trans people across the UK are struggling to access healthcare and finding it difficult to go about their lives with dignity. As their identity comes under constant attack from powerful people across the world, progress cannot be taken for granted. Will the Minister reconfirm the Government’s commitment to the entire LGBTQ+ community and outline what steps are being taken to engage with LGBT people in the UK? [ Interruption. ]”

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21. “Antisocial fireworks keep our constituents awake, cause alarm for pets, and seriously affect people with post-traumatic stress disorder or special educational needs. I know the Minister heard extensively from colleagues, campaigners and charities on this during the Westminster Hall debate on my Bill. Will he meet me to discuss the implementation of the common-sense measures presented in my Fireworks Bill, including lowering the noise limit on fireworks sold to the public, closing the licensing loophole and reviewing social media and online sales?”

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22. “T5. Despite repeated Government and union engagement, it seems that Luton could be set to lose one of its largest private sector employers, as Stellantis closes its Vauxhall plant, despite our excellent transport connections, skilled work- force and proud industrial heritage. In the light of that devastating blow, does the Minister recognise the importance of Luton airport as a tool to invest in growth and attract private sector employment to our town?”

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23. “The Committee report on women’s reproductive health, started under our fantastic predecessors, laid out how medical misogyny has left far too many women suffering. Women have been left undiagnosed for debilitating conditions such as endometriosis for an average of eight years—not for treatment, for diagnosis. Black women are four to five times more likely to die during childbirth, and the rate of maternal death in the UK has risen by 15% in the last 10 years. The leading cause of that is suicide, accounting for 39% of deaths in the first year postpartum. Does the Minister therefore agree that women, and women of colour especially, have borne the brunt too often of 14 years of disastrous health policies? How can the Government reverse this trend?”

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24. “I declare an interest, because my husband works at Luton sixth-form college, although this question does not affect him. I am proud to have Luton sixth-form college and Barnfield college in my constituency—places where young people develop not only their education but their ambitions. Excellent sixth forms stay that way only by attracting and retaining the best staff. However, with the funding shortfall left by the last Tory Government, I am concerned that it is our younger generations who will feel the loss. Will the Minister outline how sixth-form colleges can use their funds to deliver the deserved 5.5% pay rise for teaching staff?”

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25. “Q11. In the past few days, Luton has suffered two stabbings. In addition, one woman has been murdered and another seriously injured, and a manhunt for the suspect is currently under way. This January alone, there have been at least 12 recorded violent offences in Luton. After decades of being funded as a rural police force, Bedfordshire Police has had to make do with special grants to tackle serious and violent crime. Does the Prime Minister agree that proper police funding is essential to keeping people in Luton North safe, and will he ensure that Bedfordshire Police receives the grants that we need to fight crime on our streets?”

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26. “T3. More than 600 households across Luton are living in temporary accommodation, with families scattered across hotels and bed and breakfasts waiting for homes to become available. The previous Government’s inaction on housing has made that painful wait even longer. It takes nearly a decade for a four-bedroom property to become available in Luton. Can the Secretary of State outline what steps she is taking to shorten waiting times and increase social housing stock for people in Luton North?”

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27. “I have heard about this issue consistently from hundreds of constituents across Luton North over the past five years. To put it into context, it does not just affect people with pets or the elderly. I was at Parklea primary school last week and spoke to the students. Every single one of them said that they had been kept up by fireworks, so it is having a detrimental impact not just on our environment or mental health, but on education. Groups across Luton North and the country reported that last year was possibly the worst for fireworks in terms of loudness, frequency and antisocial use. In some communities, they were used almost as a weapon. What is the problem? Under current laws, any adult is able to purchase fireworks that can make noise of up to 120 decibels.”

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28. “I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. It is a pleasure to bring the Bill to the House. We all know that our constituents, whether we live in a town, city or village, are fed up with nuisance loud fireworks. This is no longer something that just happens once or twice a year; it plagues our constituents’ nights almost every night, particularly in places like Luton North. I want to thank the co-sponsors of the Bill, my hon. Friends the Members for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes) and for Newport East (Jessica Morden), and another big supporter of the Bill, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Dr Ahmed). We have had wide support for the Bill, because we know the impact this issue has on people’s lives.”

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29. “Absolutely. I have parents with children with special educational needs. It is particularly distressing in the middle of the night for non-verbal autistic children and young people, and calming down loved ones is really difficult. They say that the sporadic nature of the fireworks causes distress: they cannot plan in advance, and cannot prepare young and neurodiverse people for a barrage of noise.”

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30. “I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Member, who has extensive experience as a vet. Indeed, he supported the previous iterations of the Bill, for exactly the same reasons that he has outlined. The Kennel Club has reported an 81% increase in the number of dogs going missing when fireworks are used, and it changes their behaviour. Some of the fireworks lobby have said that we need to train our pets better. No animal is better trained than a guide dog, but guide dog users have told me that fireworks affect them so much that they cannot go outside when fireworks are going off. As has been alluded to, this Bill represents a second bite of the cherry. We know that enforcement is so difficult, because the police have had their numbers cut to the bone and are limited in their powers. That is why this Bill focuses on licensing and sales alone.”

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31. “My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Fireworks really affect veterans, and people with PTSD and mental health issues, which is why I am proud that this Bill has been supported by Combat Stress and Help for Heroes, and by the RSPCA, the Dogs Trust, Redwings and the Kennel Club. There could not be a more diverse group of organisations and charities, and they are all saying that it is now time to limit the level of the loudest fireworks.”

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32. “My hon. Friend highlights perfectly the seriousness of this matter. When explosives such as F3 fireworks get into the wrong hands and are used for criminal ends, it has horrendous, life-changing and sometimes life-taking consequences. That is why I want to see an end to the perverse loophole that allows unlicensed sellers to sell fireworks to members of the public during certain periods of the year, such as Diwali and new year’s eve.”

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33. “I will make a little progress. At the times when we want fireworks the most, unlicensed pop-up shops appear. They sell explosives that should be handled by licensed sellers, and that should only be sold to members of the public at the lowest and safest levels.”

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34. “There is a hunger among the public and consumers for quieter fireworks and increased use of technology such as drones. We need to see change now, because the public are behind us—”

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35. “I wholeheartedly agree. There are some incredibly cool alternatives to loud fireworks, and the general public really like them. A YouGov survey recently said that drones are more popular than fireworks in the UK, and we have seen some fantastic drone displays. There are also low-noise fireworks, but the general public still do not know quite what they are buying at the moment. I would hazard a guess that not many people would know—until they became as nerdy as me about fireworks —the difference between an F2 and an F3 firework. We need to enable, encourage and educate responsible members of the public on what they are buying and on the alternatives. There is a challenge there for the fireworks lobby, which needs to diversify.”

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36. “I thank the Minister for his response. Leagrave station in Luton was one of a number granted Access for All funding by the previous Government for long-overdue lifts. However, Network Rail now says that this money was never allocated and that it only qualifies for a business case, despite a feasibility study already being agreed and completed. Those who can make the nearly 2 million journeys from Leagrave station, including myself, are left with a crumbling footbridge that is not accessible for many. Will the Minister offer assurances that Access for All funding to Leagrave station will be honoured, and will he meet me and the Bedfordshire Rail Access Network to establish the quickest path to having lifts at Leagrave station?”

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37. “I want to go a bit further on that data. Does the hon. Member accept that in the 2022 police report on child sexual exploitation, where there were more than two perpetrators, the ethnicity data pointed to 76% of the perpetrators being white, 9% being black and 9% being Asian?”

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38. “We can receive abuse and violence for multiple reasons—because we are a woman and because we are an ethnic minority, or because we are a woman and because we are disabled. Hatred never stays in one lane, or at least not for very long. These measures are all needed and, in many areas, they have been neglected for years. We cannot take our eye off the ball, because there are those who seek to sell off our rights and freedoms to the highest bidder on the world stage. Violence against women and girls does not come out of nowhere. I do not believe that any child is born with hatred in their heart and their mind. No baby boy is born thinking that he has a right over a woman’s body, or the right to abuse or rape her. It is society that instils that belief.”

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39. “The minuscule number of reported rape cases that actually find their way to court are being dragged out to the extent that people give up hope. Banning the creation of deepfakes and non-consensual intimate images is hugely important. The Women and Equalities Committee has heard evidence from brave survivors and victims of this cruel, degrading abuse. The impact that has, and continues to have, on their lives does not match the punishment that perpetrators currently face. I am grateful that we will see a minimum two-year sentence for these offences. The Government are seeking to ensure that all victims of violence are seen, supported and protected, particularly migrant women and girls, as well as black, Asian and minority ethnic, LGBT+ and disabled women and girls.”

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40. “All of this happens, and continues to happen, to women and girls, and more so if they are black, Asian or minority ethnic, if they are disabled or if they are LGBT, which is why I am so grateful that we have a plan of action for halving violence against women and girls. That sounds like an incredible aim—an impossible task—but I hope it is not. I have printed just one page, but the measures that will happen under this Labour Government to tackle violence against women extend over many pages. The ones I pick out are, first, that there will be domestic abuse specialists in every 999 control room, which will be life-changing for those with the bravery to pick up the phone and say, “I am being abused by a loved one.” Rape cases will be fast-tracked through the courts. We have heard that justice delayed is justice denied.”

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41. “Are our services actually protecting or supporting us? For over a decade, when it comes to health, the police and justice, no one can say that is clearly the case. We have been failed by institutions and individuals, which is why many of us still ask our friends to text us to say that they have got home safely. It is why many of us will not run at night, and why many of us wear just one earphone, if that, when we are walking around. It is why we carry keys in our pockets, rolled up in our hands. It is why we have to explain to our daughters what is appropriate and what is not, and it is why we should also explain that to our sons.”

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42. “The hypocrisy of this man continues. He helped to elect a man who has lost another lawsuit against a woman who claims that he raped her—a man who has 26 claims of sexual assault against him. We have Members of this House who champion both those men. We often share this Chamber with a man who has been convicted of kicking a woman, and with others who think that is acceptable. Sadly, violence against women and girls does not start or end with politics and war. As we have heard, society’s view of women is such an important part of this. In 2025, where are we as a society when it is okay for 70,000 men to get together to share tips on how to rape and sexually assault women and get away with it? What is our place in this world? What is the place of women and girls in this world? Are our institutions designed for us? Are they working for us?”

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43. “Can we guarantee that something similar is not happening closer to home? Probably not. We are about to witness the inauguration of a President who openly boasted about grabbing women “by the pussy,” enabled by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk—who, on the one hand, has pretended over the last few weeks to care about the victims of sexual violence while, on the other hand, targeting and inciting hatred against the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips), calling her an “evil witch.” That is digging deep into historical misogyny. How long have powerful women who stand up been constantly called a witch, or something that rhymes with it? I am pretty sure that most of us have been called something similar for standing up to those in power.”

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44. “Given the level of under-reporting in this country, we can assume that they have probably been sexually assaulted multiple times. We live in a world in which Iraq has lowered the age of consent for girls to nine years old. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, women and girls describe their bodies as being an extension of a battlefield. Médecins Sans Frontières estimates that at least 25,000 women have been raped by militia in Congo. If that is too far afield for Members or people at home to empathise with the seriousness of the situation for women and girls not just in this country but across the world, what about the group of 70,000 men in Germany who shared tips on how to rape, how to drug, how to get away with sexual assault, and how to wreak revenge on women and girls? Just in Germany, 70,000 men shared those tips.”

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45. “The true figure is probably much more, because at least 11 cases of women’s murders are still to be solved. As the Minister rightly said, a woman is killed every three days at the hands of a man. The revenge porn helpline deals with 9,000 cases every year, and the number is increasing. We are increasingly seeing men and boys become victims of sextortion, but the victims of revenge porn and non-consensual intimate image abuse are predominantly women, and the problem is only going to get worse with new AI technology and nudification apps. One in three women has been sexually assaulted, so the chances are that we will know women and girls—see them, work with them and cross paths with them every single day—who have been victims.”

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46. “I thank the Government for providing time for this incredibly important debate. The debate is timely, but unfortunately it is always timely to discuss violence against women and girls, given the issues that we face. I thank the Minister for her opening remarks, and for showing the dedication that she has throughout her working life as an MP to making our spaces—online, in person, at home or at work—safer for all of us. Why are we here to discuss violence against women and girls? It is because we live in a country where 97% of recorded rapes go unpunished. That is an improvement on the 98% that went unpunished just a few years ago. If they do get processed, it takes years for victims to fight through the backlogs for justice, as we have heard. We know that over 80 women were killed by men last year.”

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47. “Much of that rests on the Government’s aim to halve violence against women and girls, and that the next generation of women have fire in their bellies, and a hunger for change and equality in their hearts.”

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48. “That was a ludicrous situation, so I am grateful that the Minister outlined that there will be strengthening of the codes to ensure that no perpetrator of NCIIs will have devices or materials related to the original offence returned to them. We need to continue the fight against violence against women and girls, because it was never won in the first place. Perpetrators are using new technologies to evade justice and to inflict greater harms. I will end with the words of Gisèle Pelicot after the verdicts against her husband and her rapists were given. She said: “I now have confidence in our capacity to find a better future where everyone, women and men alike, can live in harmony with respect and mutual understanding.” My goodness, I wish I shared her confidence, but I do share her hope.”

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49. “She could not be more right, but are we up to that challenge? Will women and girls stop being blamed and shamed, and will male perpetrators actually be held to account? We are seeing action, but with technology we are always playing catch-up. The founder of the website that hosted the ads placed by Gisèle Pelicot’s husband to recruit his wife’s rapists has just been arrested in France. I am grateful that this Government are introducing measures to tackle online abuse and violence against women, but we cannot let up. We have to continue. During my Committee’s most recent inquiry into non-consensual intimate image abuse, we heard that police officers were handing devices containing intimate images back to the perpetrators.”

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50. “We like to paint rapists, perpetrators of sexual assault and predators as monsters or something “other”, but if we think about the statistics of sexual violence and rape that were highlighted earlier, we see that those men walk among us. Young boys need better role models than those promoted on X, Telegram and soon, I fear, Meta. I want to end by talking about the people who embody the mirror that ensures shame is reflected on those who deserve it: Gisèle Pelicot and every other victim of abuse who steps forward. Gisèle Pelicot was drugged by her husband and raped by 51 men—betrayed by the person who should have loved and cherished her. As with so many cases of violence against women and girls, it was a supposed loved one—a close one. She waived her right to anonymity because she felt the “shame must change sides”.”

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