Gisele Pelicot, the 72-year-old victim of mass rape whose ordeal has shocked the world, told a trial in southern France on Wednesday that she was determined that making her case public should help other women and change society.

Gisele Pelicot says her husband "reached the lowest depths of the human soul" by drugging and raping her - and any shame is his to bear.

The 72-year-old says she does not know how to get her life back as trial involving her ex-husband and 50 other men continues

Addressing French court for second time, Pelicot says she’s determined to change how society confronts sexual violence.

Gisele Pelicot takes stand at French mass rape trial with message for survivors: "It’s not for us to have shame - it’s for them." This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

WARNING: Distressing. Gisele Pelicot has told a court she believed she had the perfect husband, before a crushing realisation. A French woman who was unknowingly drugged and raped by her husband of 50 years and, allegedly, dozens of strangers has told a court how the realisation has “totally destroyed” her.

For weeks, Pelicot has been silently listening to arguments from the 51 men on trial on charges of raping her while she was unconscious — a scheme her ex-husband admits to orchestrating.

The 71-year-old has become a feminist icon in France since the trial of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other men opened last month in the southern French city of Avignon. The case has sparked horror, protests and a debate about male violence in French society,

Gisèle Pelicot takes the stand in the trial in which her ex-husband is accused of drugging her and inviting dozens of men to rape her.

Grandmother Gisele Pelicot takes the stand in mass rape trial of her ex-husband in France with a message to other rape survivors.

The case has horrified the country, prompting solidarity marches and calls by feminist campaigners to expand the law on rape.