Gisèle Pelicot slammed the decision to not hand three boys involved in the rape of two girls in separate horror attacks custodial sentences while praising the bravery of the victims10:35, 26 May 2026Updated 10:53, 26 May 2026Rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot said she was "deeply shocked" after three teen boys convicted of raping two girls in the UK were spared jail.Two girls were raped in two separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, the first attack on November 26, 2024 and the second on January 17, 2025. In the first attack, a 15-year-old girl was raped by two of the boys, both aged 14 at the time and in the second attack two boys raped a 14-year-old girl and the other filmed, aged 14, the attack and encouraged the rape.The three boys were given youth rehabilitation orders (YRO) instead of a custodial sentence, with the older pair also made subject to intensive supervision and surveillance (ISS).Pelicot, whose horrific rape ordeal shocked France and the world, said she was horrified these teenagers were "able to gain their freedom again" when their victims were "suffering so hard they will never be able to heal".Pelicot, 73, was at the heart of France's biggest rape trial which saw her husband jailed for 20 years, in 2024, for raping and drugging her and allowing dozens of other men to sexually abuse her while she was unconscious. She had waived her right to anonymity during the trial of her husband Dominique Pelicot.The 73-year-old, speaking to BBC Breakfast, said: "Rape is a crime and justice has an essential role. It's there to, in fact, name the crimes, to recognise the suffering of victims, and to remember that in fact they must not remain unpunished."Following the decision to keep the three young men out of prison, one of the two victims told the BBC it was like a "rock straight in my face". The girl, now 16, said she wanted the sentence for the boys to be changed, saying: "Why did I sit and put myself through the pain of going to court, going through a trial, reliving everything because of evidence and watching it all happen again?"Pelicot said she hoped her story was useful for the young woman to come forward after her attack and said: "I really salute her strength and the decision she made, because I know that it's an incredibly difficult decision."The three teenage boys would not have been sent to prison is they were handed custodial sentences as people aged under 18 in the UK would serve time in a secure centres for children instead.Keir Starmer described the case as "appalling" while Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones offered to support the families of the victims if they wished to appeal against the "leniency" of the sentences.Article continues belowThe sentences were handed by Judge Nicholas Rowland at Southampton Crown Court and he told the defendants: "I have to remember that you are not small adults. I have to think how likely you are to do serious things again and I need to make sure you do not do serious things again in the future."He added: "I should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily and understand the effects of their behaviour and support their reintegration into society."A spokesperson for the attorney general's office said it had received "multiple" requests for the sentences to be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Scheme. The attorney general has 28 days to decided if the sentences should be referred to the Court of Appeal.