Gisele Pelicot | Pakistan

Gisele Pelicot, who became a feminist icon by publicly testifying over the mass rapes she endured, and rapper-turned-fashion designer Pharrell Williams were among 589 people awarded France’s top civic honour on Sunday. Pelicot, 72, and Williams were both named knights of the Legion of Honour on a list announced ahead of France’s July 14 national day. Pelicot earned international tributes for her courage in testifying at a trial in 2024 against her former husband, who drugged her and arranged for her to be raped by dozens of men over a decade. She has since been named on lists of the world’s most influential people by international media and the case helped force a change in France’s rape law. But Pelicot has remained silent since the trial. Her lawyer says she is concentrating on writing a book giving her side of the mass rape story which is to be released in 2026. Williams, 52, made his name as a rapper and singer but earned a second fortune as a music producer and after designing clothes and accessories for...