The government will extend the system allowing women victims of sexual violence to file a complaint in a hospital with an emergency or gynecology department, announced Monday, November 25, the Secretary of State responsible for equality between women and men, Salima Saa.
This system, in which the hospital contacts the gendarmerie or prosecutor to file a complaint, is already present in many French establishments, but will be extended to 377 establishments by the end of 2025, she explained on Franceinfo . The measure, which must be officially announced by the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, Monday afternoon during a visit to the Maison des femmes de l'Hôtel-Dieu, in Paris, is already the subject of 236 agreements with establishments, according to Salima Saa.
“For all hospitals that have an emergency department and a gynecological department, within this hospital, in fact, a woman who travels there will be able to file a complaint”explained the Secretary of State. It is up to the establishment to then contact the police station or gendarmerie so that someone can come “to take the complaint”.
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Chemical submission, a “new scourge”
Salima 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. In this regard, she gave the example of the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris, a hospital which can store evidence for three years. “The file that must be created is the most important for the complaint to go to the end”Salima Saa explained.
Furthermore, the Secretary of State announced that the government was supporting an information campaign launched this week to help victims of chemical submission, which she described as “new scourge”.
This campaign, born in the wake of the Mazan rape trial, was launched by the M'endors pas association, co-founded by the daughter of Gisèle Pelicot – the main victim at the heart of this affair with international resonance – and the platform listening to Crafs (Reference Center on Substance Facilitated Attacks), in partnership with the Order of Pharmacists. This platform “can answer, and advise you, and tell you in which laboratory, what to do with your hair, blood tests, urine”explained Mme Weather.
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