The Older Women’s Network also wanted to connect Ms Pelicot with the 60,000 years of resilience and courage of Australia’s Indigenous women – choosing a scarf featuring the work of Mulyatingki Marney, an 83-year-old Aboriginal artist.
Her artwork depicts a cluster of saltwater pools in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region, known amongst the Martu people for their healing properties, and tells a cultural story about a family of dingoes
“The moon is taking care of the dingo pups, it’s looking after them,” Ms Marney is quoted as saying, when describing the piece.
Ms Marney was unavailable to speak to the BBC, but Rhianna Stewart from Martumili Artists – her agent – said she saw the scarf as an expression of Ms Marney’s challenges living in the desert and confronting the violence of colonisation.
There are parallels between the scarf’s creator and its wearer she says: “This lady [Ms Pelicot] as a person is truth telling too, about difficult realities.”
The scarf has become a source of pride for fellow members of the Martumili Artists group, Martu woman Sylvia Wilson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“It’s the place Wilarra, which is a healing place out on community,” she said.
“There’s a really strong message… what’s behind the scarf too.”
Ms Pelicot last month said she was “very honoured” to wear the gift.
And speaking outside of the court following the verdicts, she said, though the trial had been a “very difficult ordeal”, she “never regretted” her decision to make it public.
“I opened the doors of this trial so society could see what was happening,” Ms Pelicot said, adding that the support she’d received had given her hope of a “better future” where men and women can live in “mutual respect”.