Shame Must Change Sides- Gisele Pelicot.

 Gisele's story is heartbreaking.

I cannot wrap my head around the evilness those close to her put her through. Human beings do not deserve that. Even animals do not expose each other to that level of vileness.

Her story made me think about what she said about shame changing sides.

When something like that happens, we often rush to know what the victim might have done. We are always so quick to judge.

'What did she wear?' 'what did he do?'

Then, we go ahead and pass judgment. We make ourselves judge and jury.

What is wrong with us? Are we in denial? Do we not really believe that our friends, sisters, brothers, and neighbors can do inhumane things?

Why are we obsessed with justifications and rationalizations? You should surely not be comfortable, and when you try so hard to blame a victim, you are indeed in denial.

I had read a few articles on the case online, and what struck me was that they were all hiding their faces. Where was this shame when they were committing the crimes? Now, suddenly, they are sorry and disgusted with themselves?

The jokes were writing themselves.

Enough of those evil people.

Now to Gisele. My heart broke for her. In one interview, she said that she does not know how she will rewrite her life since she is in her 70s.

She was courageous enough to stand up to her abusers, go through cruel court processes, and face tens of faces that terrified her.

She went to the court every day, her head held high, and she fought for herself. For the first time in many years, shame is changing sides.

The socialization of victim blaming should end with us.

Gisele did it.

Shame must change sides.