Gisele Pelicot settles privacy case with Paris Match magazine over photos

By Juliette Jabkhiro

PARIS (Reuters) -Gisele Pelicot, the French woman who became a symbol of courage and resilience during the trial of her ex-husband and 50 other men for repeatedly raping her, has settled with magazine Paris Match after it published photos of her without her consent.

The magazine, owned by French luxury group LVMH, has agreed to make two 20,000-euro ($22,900) payments to associations that support victims of sexual violence, her lawyer Stephane Babonneau said. Pelicot had taken Paris Match to court alleging invasion of privacy, but withdrew her case ahead of a court hearing on Wednesday.

Pelicot's case against Paris Match raised interesting questions about the right to privacy in France, which has strong laws to protect against intrusions.

Pelicot waived her right to anonymity during the rape trial, becoming an internationally recognized figure. The court's ruling would have likely hinged on whether or not there was a public interest in her private life now the trial was over, experts said.

"She became a public figure unwillingly," Babonneau told Reuters. "It didn't mean that because she waived her right to anonymity for the trial, she was giving up her right to privacy."

The pictures of Pelicot and her partner were taken on the Île de Ré, an island off western France where she now lives.

"We had warned Paris Match not to publish these photos ten days before," Babonneau added.

A lawyer for Paris Match didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pelicot has said she "never regretted" going public during the trial, which ended last December. Her ex-husband was found guilty of repeatedly drugging and raping her for almost a decade, and inviting dozens of strangers to their home to rape her while unconscious. The other 50 co-defendants were also found guilty of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.

Her lawyer said the publication of the pictures shocked her greatly.

Sophie Barre, a member of women's rights organisation #NousToutes, told Reuters the pictures represented another act of violence after the abuse she had endured.

"Her former husband filmed the rapes," she said. "With these pictures, her image is again captured without her consent."

($1 = 0.8724 euros)

(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro, additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, editing by Alexandra Hudson)