Living with Men: A conversation with Manon Garcia on the Pelicot Trial

Manon Garcia is the French philosopher discussed at length by Antoine Camus, Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, in his final speech to the court. In academic circles Manon is well-known for her work on consent and submission.

reflects on her experience of attending the 2024 Pelicot trial, published in October. Gisèle Pelicot’s own book is publishing on 17th February. Manon is exceptionally well positioned to talk about the reception of the Pelicot book in France, and the ongoing impact of the case worldwide. Manon is therefore being interviewed alongside Gisèle by French media when the book releases in France, and will also be doing high profile media in London.

The most disturbing thing about mass sexual violence isn’t its brutality, but its banality, argues Manon in her book. Waiting outside the courtroom, she wonders about every man she encounters without a lawyer’s robe—is this one a rapist or not? Her question has deeper resonance. Shifting between calm analysis and visceral emotional response—compassion, frustration, and fury—Garcia confronts how seemingly ordinary men become rapists. She lays bare the widespread failure to understand consent, exposing the ways domination and entitlement are used as justifications for rape, and with unsettling lucidity reckons with what it means for women to keep living in a world defined by male violence.

You can read interviews with Manon in The Guardian and New World, and listen to her talk on Woman’s Hour.

Don't miss your chance to hear Manon in-person and unfiltered, in conversation with women from London Metropolitan University's world-leading Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit. Doors open at 4pm. A small number of books will be available for signing on the day.

Please note this event is in-person only and will not be recorded. Tickets are free but strictly limited.

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Host or Publisher Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU)