AAs the main victim of the so-called “Mazan rapes” case is due to be heard on Thursday, the fourth day of an extraordinary trial, Leïla Chaouachi, a doctor of pharmacy at the Paris Addictology Center (AP-HP), sheds light on this little-known phenomenon of chemical submission in the private sphere. For nearly ten years, Gisèle P. was drugged by her husband, who unknowingly gave her anxiolytic and sleeping pills in order to rape her and sexually deliver her to strangers.
“Chemical submission is a modus operandi for committing a crime or an offence,” explains this public health expert who is coordinating a national investigation on the subject. We hear about it in certain news stories, but the phenomenon which mainly affects women – and often in a context of domestic violence – is apparently underestimated, due to a lack of complaints. And for good reason, “in one case out of two,” specifies Dr Chaouachi, “there is amnesia, which can be total or partial.” Explanations.
The Point: Is the phenomenon of chemical submission underestimated in France?
Dr. Leïla Chaouachi: Yes, since in the majority of cases, victims do not file a complaint. In France, a country that is a pioneer in monitoring this phenomenon, access to toxicological analyses for chemical submission is conditional on filing a complaint. For sexual violence – the majority of assaults found in our investigation […] Read more
