November 25 is World Day Against Violence Against Women. At the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Paris, female victims of rape can benefit from collecting evidence without necessarily filing a complaint straight away. It is a unique system in France.
Published on 25/11/2024 06:42
Updated on 25/11/2024 06:43
Reading time: 2min
The device had already been tested for two years. The Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris, the AP-HP, has just signed an agreement with the Paris Prosecutor's Office and the Paris police headquarters: female victims of rape can benefit from collecting evidence without necessarily filing a complaint. right away.
At the Maison des Femmes de l'Hôtel-Dieu, Anna*, a victim of rape, says: “I needed a good shower, and two days to absorb the shock.” “A shower which would probably have made the attacker's DNA disappear. A day or two which would probably have been enough to remove some of the lesions which could have been highlighted and recorded in the medico-legal findings report”. With the evidence collection device, this woman was able to go to the police station a few weeks later.
The forensic doctor Charlotte Gorgiard carries out the examinations in the Maison des Femmes at the Hôtel-Dieu, but you must first go through an emergency department in Parisian hospitals: “There are deadlines to respect, evidence which is eliminated quickly. For situations of vaginal penetration, we go up to five days after an attack, to propose the examination. We guarantee the correct completion but also the proper conservation of the samples, which will be usable in legal proceedings if the victim wishes to file a complaint.
Evidence is kept for three years because “Victims of sexual violence need time”insists psychiatrist Sarah Dauchy, medical manager of the Maison des Femmes de l’Hôtel-Dieu: “In the first days, there are a certain number of psychological mechanisms which go with an acute stress reaction and which will hinder women from filing a complaint.”
“The few days after a sexual assault are the most necessary to be able to collect evidence, because it has a limited lifespan, but these are the few days when it is most difficult for women to talk.”
Sarah Dauchyat franceinfo
Between 2023 and 2024, the Maison des Femmes de l'Hôtel-Dieu took care of 38 victims, 11 have already filed a complaint and others could follow. This is more than the national average. For Anna, “Above all, this system allowed me to meet professionals in a particularly complicated moment who, with their advice and attentive listening, were able to facilitate my filing of a complaint.“
Two other AP-HP hospitals in Ile-de-France, the Jean Verdier hospital and the Raymond Poincaré hospital, should also sign an agreement in the coming months.
*The first name has been changed
