A Hymn to Life: The Story Behind the ‘Shame Must Change Sides’ Pin Badge
The diversity of businesses and industries we help make custom pin badges and other products means we’re often working on fun, creative projects. One day, we’re making branding products for a world-champion Formula 1 team; the next, we’re figuring out how to make a functioning lighthouse on a hard enamel badge.
But every now and again, we’re asked to produce something important. Products that support a worthwhile cause or can help spark long overdue conversations on issues that have plagued the female experience since, well, forever.
Which is exactly what happened when we were commissioned by Penguin Random House to produce a pin badge & backing card to accompany the release of A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides by Gisèle Pelicot.
Gisèle Pelicot - A Story of Unimaginable Betrayal & Inspirational Courage
Gisèle’s book is not easy reading. She bravely reveals the intimate details of her life, which culminated in the horrific discovery that she had been repeatedly betrayed in the most heinous way by the very man who’d sworn to love and protect her for the rest of her days.
For nearly a decade, Gisèle was drugged by her husband, who allowed her to be raped by 50 men while she was unconscious. The abuse was organised, recorded, facilitated, and hidden in plain sight. When the crimes were finally exposed, she made a decision that shifted the trial's narrative: she waived her anonymity.
Her reasoning was simple and devastatingly powerful.
Shame should not belong to the victim.
When Gisèle chose to testify publicly, she reversed that dynamic and forced attention onto the evil men who committed the crimes. She redirected the spotlight and, in the process, helped survivors of rape, sexual abuse, and domestic violence reach out and reclaim the power that had been inexplicably taken away from them.
In the years following the trial and the imprisonment of her abusers, Gisèle has chosen to embrace life and use her experiences to validate the feelings of other survivors with her book and promotional tour.
Gisèle has been speaking openly about her experience, including appearing on the daily TV show This Morning and giving a candid interview with Loraine Kelly. In February 2026, she met Queen Camilla at Clarence House and, notably, both women wore the “Shame Must Change Sides” pin badge during the meeting.
Shame Must Change Sides
The phrase “Shame Must Change Sides” has since become synonymous with her case. It’s a direct challenge to the way sexual violence is still framed, discussed, and internalised.
Because despite decades of progress, rape remains surrounded by suspicion, stigma, and misplaced scrutiny. What was she wearing? Why didn’t she leave? Why didn’t she report it sooner? Did she know? Did she suspect? Did she fight?
Questions that rarely begin with the perpetrator.
Sexual violence is not rare, and it’s not confined to dark alleyways, secluded parks, or headlines in faraway cities. It happens in homes. In relationships. In marriages. It happens behind doors that look ordinary from the outside, and it’s most often perpetrated by people women know, by people who claim to love them, by boyfriends, husbands, and exes.
And for many women, the aftermath isn’t simply about the trauma, it’s worries of disbelief and being doubted. It’s a person being reduced to evidence, and having their life publicly dissected while the person who harmed them hides behind legal process and silence.
Heroines like Gisèle Pelicot selflessly face the stigma of what’s been done to her, transforming the narrative and shining a light on those who should actually feel the shame. To empower women to say “I have nothing to be ashamed of” and hold to account the inconceivable number of men who walk free despite having committed one of the most heinous crimes one human can force upon another.
While misdirected shame has protected abusers for generations, “A Hymn to Life” aims to send shame back to its rightful owner.
Making Pins Badges We’re Proud Of
We’re under no illusions that much of the time, designing and creating pin badges has no great impact on society, but we love our jobs because enamel pins bring a little bit of colour to an often dark and serious world.
However, when we’re able to help on groundbreaking projects like Gisèle’s book (even in such a small way as this), we feel lucky that we’re trusted to create small products that bring a powerful message into the public eye.
A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides is available online and in all good bookshops.
If you have a cause close to your heart that you want to shine a light on, we can help you promote it with pin badges, patches, socks, keyrings, and other kinds of custom merch.
Contact our friendly team to get started.