France unveils new measures to protect women in wake of Pelicot affair

The French government announced on Monday, November 25 new measures to combat violence against women, including state-funded test kits, the ability to file complaints at more hospitals and increased emergency aid. 

Speaking at the Hôtel-Dieu public hospital in Paris’s 4th arrondissement to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier promised that “there will not be any tolerance for violence against women” and said that “more needs to be done”.

“These last months the French have been deeply moved by the incredible courage of Gisèle Pelicot,” said Barnier, referring to the mass rape trial that has sent shockwaves across France and beyond. Dominique Pelicot is on trial for raping and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated, now ex-wife Gisèle for almost a decade in the southeastern French village of Mazan, where the couple lived and where most of the events took place. 

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‘Raising awareness’ for chemical submission 

To combat the “as yet little-known issue of chemical submission”, Barnier announced that the French national health insurance programme will be providing state-funded test kits in several regions on a trial basis. No timetable has yet been defined for this initiative. 

A campaign to raise awareness of chemical submission will also be spearheaded by the M'endors pas (Don't sedate me) association co-founded by Gisèle Pelicot's daughter and the helpline of France's Reference centre for substance-facilitated aggression (Centre de référence sur les agressions facilitées par les substances) in partnership with the French Order of Pharmacists. 

In October, the government entrusted a similar mission to Senator Véronique Guillotin, of the centrist Radical Movement party, and MP Sandrine Josso, of the centre-right Democratic Movement party. The latter recommended that pharmacies be allowed to issue a “morning-after" test kit via medical prescription to women who think they may have been drugged. Contained in the kit would be urine sample bottles, useful addresses and full instructions on how to access the results, to be used as evidence.

“We feel that the [Pelicot] trial has raised awareness of this type of violence,” said Mine Günbay, director general of the national federation Solidarité Femmes (Women’s Solidarity), who has noted a significant increase in women calling 3919, the national number dedicated to female victims of violence. “Women are speaking out,” said Günbay. “It's very important that a parliamentary report be written up and that resources also be made available to deal with this issue.”

The security services recorded 271,000 victims of domestic violence in 2023, according to the French interior ministry. This type of violence accounted for 93% of the calls handled by 3919.

Expanded system for filing complaints in hospitals

The French government also announced the expansion of the system enabling female victims of violence to file a complaint in a hospital with an emergency or gynaecology department. 

While this system, whereby the hospital itself contacts the police or the public prosecutor's office to lodge a complaint, is already available in many French hospitals, it will be extended to 377 facilities by the end of 2025.

“Hospitals and doctors are often the first professionals that women go to, sometimes even before the police ... It is therefore essential that the police come directly to the hospital so that a complaint can be lodged,” added Gunbay, who advocates these systems that “effectively facilitate the victim's journey” and calls for “continued training of police, justice and health professionals”.

Increased universal emergency aid

Günbay also welcomed the increase in universal emergency aid to help victims of domestic violence and support them when they leave their homes.

The budget for this aid will increase from €13 million in the 2024 finance bill (projet de loi sur les finances, or PLF) to €20 million in the 2025 PLF, according to the government. This measure has benefitted 33,000 people, who have received an average of €800, since it was launched at the end of 2023. 

“It's a one-off helping hand that's much in demand by the women we support in their dealings with the CAF [Caisses d'Allocations Familiales, the French government agencies responsible for distributing various social benefits and allowances to families], but it doesn't get them out of the violent situation,” said Günbay. The director of Solidarité Femmes nonetheless welcomed the announcement of these measures, “which are nothing new to the associations, but which are more in line with what has been thought out and undertaken as part of the Grenelle [governmental-level consultations] and ministerial plans”.

The government's plan also calls for every French regional department to have a specialised women's centre by the end of 2025.

‘€2.6 billion are needed for a real plan to combat discrimination’

In total, “we have managed to obtain a 10 percent increase in the budget” devoted to gender equality, which has risen to €85.1 million (€+7.7 million) in the PLF 2025, Secretary of State Salima Saa said during an interview on French public radio network Franceinfo on Monday morning. 

But the budget increase still falls far short of what is needed for the associations, which are calling for a total budget of €2.6 billion per year and a “comprehensive framework law” to replace the current legislation, which they deem “fragmented and incomplete”.

“We, the feminist associations, are asking for [this total sum] to combat all forms of violence against women. This includes the issue of prevention from a young age, training for professionals, psycho-trauma centres and shelters for women and their children. The €85 million will not be enough. We need €2.6 billion to be able to really combat the problem,” said Günbay.

The director of Solidarités Femmes said she is very worried about the drop in funding for local authorities, which also finance associations in their area. “In addition to this budgetary ‘women's rights’ envelope, our associations receive funding from local authorities on a departmental and regional level as well as from the local authorities, municipalities, etc. As a result, we have several associations in our network that are in a very precarious economic situation. I just learned this very morning [Monday] that a post funded by the Pays de la Loire region [in western France] had been cut. It was an essential post, because it enabled us to coordinate with a large number of associations across the region.”

“We'll only consider the fight against violence against women to be a major national cause once we have €2.6 billion designated to combat violence against women,” said Günbay, who is now waiting for the "welcomed" but "insufficient" governmental measures to be implemented.

With AFP and Reuters

This article has been translated from the original in French by Mariamne Everett.