Catherine Porter

Right, because most victims are offered the right to have a closed trial and most of them take it. I've covered a lot of rape trials in my career and almost never named the victim in them. I can think of only one other time because most rape victims don't want their names out there because there's a lot of shame around rape, even though it's completely...

Right, because most victims are offered the right to have a closed trial and most of them take it. I've covered a lot of rape trials in my career and almost never named the victim in them. I can think of only one other time because most rape victims don't want their names out there because there's a lot of shame around rape, even though it's completely...

undeserved, and there shouldn't be shame, but people feel culpable in some way. And so I fully expected her as a grandmother, as someone who was not a feminist activist before, to take the regular path of deciding to have her case be private. So I wrote the first story and I was very careful. We didn't want to identify her.

undeserved, and there shouldn't be shame, but people feel culpable in some way. And so I fully expected her as a grandmother, as someone who was not a feminist activist before, to take the regular path of deciding to have her case be private. So I wrote the first story and I was very careful. We didn't want to identify her.

So she had moved out of the town and she had changed her last name to her maiden name. So we could use her name as Giselle and that's it. And then her lawyer said to me that she seemed pretty sure she was going to go public. Huh. And I thought, you know, I just didn't believe it because I thought there's no way that the 71-year-old grandmother...

So she had moved out of the town and she had changed her last name to her maiden name. So we could use her name as Giselle and that's it. And then her lawyer said to me that she seemed pretty sure she was going to go public. Huh. And I thought, you know, I just didn't believe it because I thought there's no way that the 71-year-old grandmother...

would, when she got into court, decide to use her full name and to be the face of such a traumatic series of rapes. But in the end, she decided in a very poignant statement that she wanted shame to change size. She thinks there's no place for shame on the side of the victim. It should be placed on the side of the accused.

would, when she got into court, decide to use her full name and to be the face of such a traumatic series of rapes. But in the end, she decided in a very poignant statement that she wanted shame to change size. She thinks there's no place for shame on the side of the victim. It should be placed on the side of the accused.

And she makes this really brave and unusual decision to open her trial to the public and use her married name.

And she makes this really brave and unusual decision to open her trial to the public and use her married name.

Right. So she decides on the day that the trial opens that she will be known publicly as Giselle Pellico.

Right. So she decides on the day that the trial opens that she will be known publicly as Giselle Pellico.

Well, it meant that I could be in the courtroom together with many other journalists. I'm inside the courthouse now. It's a big room. There's a raised bench behind which five judges and two prosecutors sit. And then the very wide box that was built specially for this trial into the room. The courtroom was nothing like a courtroom I've ever reported in.

Well, it meant that I could be in the courtroom together with many other journalists. I'm inside the courthouse now. It's a big room. There's a raised bench behind which five judges and two prosecutors sit. And then the very wide box that was built specially for this trial into the room. The courtroom was nothing like a courtroom I've ever reported in.

It had been retrofitted for all of these accused. The defendants are starting to come in. Many have hats, sunglasses, and surgical masks on to try and protect their identities. And what's really noticeable is they appear to be full range of ages. styles, looks. Some are very skinny and gaunt. The other I'm looking at has quite a big paunch.

It had been retrofitted for all of these accused. The defendants are starting to come in. Many have hats, sunglasses, and surgical masks on to try and protect their identities. And what's really noticeable is they appear to be full range of ages. styles, looks. Some are very skinny and gaunt. The other I'm looking at has quite a big paunch.

It's a full spectrum and you really get that sense sitting here where I'm looking around that just all, it's like being in a bus. All sorts of people.

It's a full spectrum and you really get that sense sitting here where I'm looking around that just all, it's like being in a bus. All sorts of people.

They're sitting all around me as a journalist in the back of the room, but also right up against Madame Pellico, who's sitting against one wall behind her two lawyers, and in front of her and all around her are the accused men who were charged with raping her.

They're sitting all around me as a journalist in the back of the room, but also right up against Madame Pellico, who's sitting against one wall behind her two lawyers, and in front of her and all around her are the accused men who were charged with raping her.