Gisele Pelicot, who embodies the fight against sexual violence against women, is one of those being honoured on 14 July, France's National Day, known as Bastille Day. Rapper-turned-fashion designer Pharrell Williams is also among 589 people awarded Legion of Honour.
Pelicot, 72, was named a knight of the Legion of Honour on a list announced ahead of France's 14 July.
Pelicot gained international acclaim for her courage in publicly testifying at a trial in 2024 against her former husband who drugged her for nearly a decade so he and dozens of strangers he recruited online could rape her at their home in the southern French town of Mazan.
She has since been named on lists of the world's most influential people by international media and the case helped forced a change in France's rape law.
'A symbol'
For lawyer Michelle Dayan, president of the organisation Lawyers for Women, this award is "a symbol" that should not overshadow the question of resources needed to effectively fight violence against women.
"Anything that serves as a symbol in the fight for gender equality and against violence toward women should be welcomed," Dayan said on Sunday on franceinfo.
However, the lawyer explained that a victim "is not, in itself, a heroine," she continued.
"What Gisèle Pelicot went through is nothing honorable, unfortunately. What she endured is the exact opposite of honor."
But, "the resilience she showed and her dignity during the trial, and what she tried to do afterward to contribute to the conversation between men and women, should indeed be commended."
Dominique Pelicot found guilty, jailed for 20 years in historic French rape trial
US Pharell Williams, historian Mona Ozouf, writer Marc Levy and Auschwitz deportee Yvette Levy, 99, are also among the figures awarded the Legion of Honour along with a host of former ministers, academics and top legal names.
Set up by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, the Legion of Honour is open to foreigners whose cultural or scientific talents are deemed to have contributed to France, but they have also been handed out in pursuit of diplomatic objectives.
(with newswires)
