Michel Barnier announces chemical submission detection kits reimbursed on an experimental basis

Chemical submission detection kits will be reimbursed by Medicare “in several departments”on an experimental basis and according to a timetable yet to be defined, announced, Monday, November 25, the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, in the middle of the Mazan rape trial. This case with international resonance – where fifty-one men are accused of having raped a woman, Gisèle Pelicot, drugged by her husband – “will mark a before and an after”said the head of government on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

This file “raises the still little-known question of chemical submission and we are all awaiting the outcome of this trial with great attention”said Mr. Barnier, traveling to the Women's House at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Paris. Chemical submission consists of the administration of psychoactive substances to an individual, often a woman, without their knowledge, for purposes including assault and rape.

In October, the government relaunched a mission on the subject, entrusted to senator Véronique Guillotin (European Democratic and Social Rally group) and to MP Sandrine Josso (Democratic Movement). The latter had recommended that pharmacies be able to issue, on medical prescription, to women who believe they have been drugged, a “detection kit” or “morning after kit” with “bottles for collecting urine”useful addresses and “all the steps to follow” to access the evidence.

The fight against violence against women is a “very long way”underlined Mr. Barnier. “We must go further because this path is not finished. »

A women's center in each department

The Prime Minister confirmed that the government would implement several measures to improve the fight against violence against women. It plans to provide each department with a women's center by 2025 and to extend the system allowing women victims of sexual violence to file a complaint in a hospital with an emergency or gynecology department – ​​a measure announced Monday morning by the Secretary of State responsible for equality between women and men, Salima Saa.

This system has already been the subject of 236 agreements with establishments. It will be extended to 377 establishments by the end of next year, announced M^me Saa. In “all hospitals that have an emergency department and a gynecological department”, on “may file a complaint”explained the Secretary of State. It is up to the establishment to contact the police station or the gendarmerie so that someone can come “take the complaint”.

M^me Saa also insisted on the importance of collecting evidence of sexual violence, which “is absolutely key in the constitution of the crime of rape”. Et “for the judicial machine to be put in place, a complaint must be filed”she continued, emphasizing the training effort in this area when welcoming victims. She gave the example of the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris, which can store evidence for three years.

Increase in the budget dedicated to gender equality

In order to fight against “new scourge” of chemical submission, as described by M^me Saa, the government also intends to support an information campaign born in the wake of the Mazan rape trial and launched this week by the M'endors pas association, co-founded by the daughter of Gisèle Pelicot and the Center's listening platform reference on attacks facilitated by substances (Crafs). This platform “can answer, and advise you, and tell you in which laboratory [se rendre]what to do with it [ses] hair, blood tests, urine »explained M^me Saa on Franceinfo, depending on who there will be “a before and an after Mazan”as he “there was a before and an after #metoo”.

Finally, universal emergency aid, put in place at the end of 2023 and designed to help victims of domestic violence and support them when they leave their home, will see its budget increase – from 13 million euros in the 2024 finance bill (PLF) at 20 million euros in the 2025 PLF –, according to M^me Saa. Since its launch, this measure has benefited 33,000 people. This aid, which can vary from 240 euros to 1,330 euros depending on the situation, is 800 euros on average. “We managed to obtain a 10% increase in the budget” devoted to gender equality, which increased to 85.1 million euros (+ 7.7 million euros) in the 2025 PLF, argued the Secretary of State.

The announcement of government measures should not, however, be enough to respond to the demands of associations defending women's rights, who are calling for a total budget of 2.6 billion euros per year and a “comprehensive framework law” to replace current legislation that they consider “fragmented and incomplete”. According to the latest official figures, 93 women were victims of marital femicide in 2023. More than 110,000 victims of sexual violence – the overwhelming majority of whom were women (85%) – were recorded by law enforcement during the same year. According to the feminist collective #NousToutes, 122 women have been killed since the start of the year.