The first day Gisèle Pelicot walked up the steps of the courthouse in Avignon in September 2024, she was an anonymous retired grandmother.
Within weeks, this diminutive 72-year-old - the victim at the centre of the largest rape trial in French history, involving 51 men including her husband - had become a feminist icon.
She was last seen in public when the verdicts - all guilty - were handed down in December. By then, crowds of supporters were chanting her name.
On Monday Gisèle Pelicot returns to court, this time in Nîmes, for the appeal of the only one of the 51 defendants to challenge his sentence: Husamettin Dogan, 44, a married father of one.
Between September and December last year, Gisèle's bleak story travelled the world. For over a decade, she had been drugged unconscious by her husband Dominique and raped by dozens of men he had recruited on internet chat rooms.
Dominique Pelicot filmed the assaults and neatly catalogued them on a hard disk, allowing investigators to track down the majority of the individuals involved. Around 20 remain at large.
After a trial lasting 16 weeks, 46 men were found guilty of rape, two of attempted rape, and two of sexual assault, with Dominique receiving a 20-year sentence.
Husamettin Dogan's appeal will function as a retrial, involving the presentation of videos of Gisèle's rape, which will again be shown in court with her present, albeit only as a witness.
Despite her wish to reclaim some normalcy, Gisèle is determined to attend, described as feeling a responsibility to see the case through.
The appeal's outcome may have wider implications, as the societal awareness around sexual violence has evolved considerably since the trial.
On a personal note, the trial and the ensuing ordeal have taken a heavy toll on Gisèle's family structure. Once united in their support, her three adult children have expressed feelings of abandonment and become fragmented in the face of the public trauma.
The split deepened after sensitive revelations during the trial, particularly surrounding their father's actions and allegations against him, which have left emotional scars and lead to estrangements among family members.
Nonetheless, Gisèle remains adamant about her mission. She speaks for other victims, urging them to break their silence and confront their aggressors, insisting that the shame must be placed upon the perpetrators instead.
As she steps back into the spotlight for the retrial, the public continues to rally behind her, highlighting both her personal struggle and the broader societal fight against sexual violence.
