Roselyne Bachelot reveals having been the victim of sexual harassment during her studies

Testimonies are multiplying on situations of harassment in French hospitals, under the banner #MeTooHopital. If she was invited to “C à vous” this Thursday, April 18 as former Minister of Health, Roselyne Bachelot shared her own story when she was a pharmacy student.

“It is time for the law of silence to no longer reign. In a way, we have the impression of a door opening and others following it, and this is very fortunate, opening. Now, doors can very quickly close given the hierarchies of power, whether in the hospital, in the army, in the world of culture where I faced the same problems and took a certain number of measures”begins by explaining Roselyne Bachelot.

“What is missing in these institutions is support people who, when a fact is revealed, support the people who are in the process of denouncing these facts. It’s something terrible. You know, as an old feminist activist, I had the impression that things were getting better and better. And all we say is that it’s getting worse and worse.”she laments before explaining the harassment process: “We reduce the potential victim. She is placed in a position of inferiority and at that moment she becomes a designated victim of excessive sexist, sexual or sexualized violence. There are three levels”.

We don’t defend ourselves, we can’t.

Roselyne Bachelot in “C to you”

Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine then asks her guest if she has experienced this situation. Roselyne Bachelot answers in the affirmative, but resists for a few minutes before agreeing to give a concrete example. “The hazing where there was a mirror above the table. “The female students were asked to take off their panties and walk around so that the male students could look at our genitals.”explains the former Minister of Health who specifies that she fainted “to the idea of ​​doing it”. She then states that she was confronted with other humiliating situations of this type by department heads at the hospital, without giving further details.

“We don’t defend ourselves, we can’t”continues Roselyne Bachelot before adding with a frozen smile that tries to hide her emotions: “I have a little trouble talking about it, if you allow me”. Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine will not insist any longer. A few minutes later, Roselyne Bachelot will nevertheless affirm: “It’s something very heavy for me”.

SEE ALSO – “Les Grosses Têtes”, his 682 days in government, Ségolène Royal…: The truths of Roselyne Bachelot, back in the media