“ANTI-RAPE KIT”

After researching the deplorable sex crimes that the now-convicted abuser Dominique Pelicot perpetrated against his own wife in late 2025, I could hardly believe what I was reading.

For decades, Dominique was drugging and raping his wife in her sleep and recruiting other men in the community to do the same. These violations were only uncovered once his own daughter filed a report with the French police that she thought her father was secretly recording her undressing. They seized his laptop and uncovered his prolific sexual abuse against the women in his family.

Gisele Pelicot was brave enough to waive her right to anonymity to bring awareness to the case, and to empower other victims of sexual assault with the knowledge that they were not alone.

Sexual violence is a very difficult theme to work with. Everyone has a differing opinion as to how to handle source material this sensitive. When I exhibited my piece, it received a very mixed reception. Some identified with it, and some were horrified. My feeling was, well, if you don’t like it, walk away. A wall-piece won’t follow you out of the gallery. A controversial reception should not stop artists from engaging with sensitive source material.

Why did I choose to honor Gisele’s bravery with a little-league bat? The case left me thinking about one awful thing: it is more effective to equip our daughters with protective gear - pepper-spray, sharp rings, baseball bats - than to hope and pray that they won’t be victimized. On the gift tag, I wrote “to my little girl”, a resolving touch which I hoped would insight the same level of disdain I was feeling in any viewer willing to look closely.