France gets new helpline amid trauma of mass rape trial

PARIS (AFP) — Some callers are women fearful they have been drugged and sexually assaulted; others are doctors worried they have misdiagnosed them — a helpline set up amid France’s notorious mass rape trial has tapped a nation’s unease.

The helpline, known as the Reference Centre on Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault (or CRAFS, its acronym in French), was launched by a Paris health center on 15 October.

That was in the middle of testimony at the rape trial of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other defendants, which has shocked the country, sparked mass protests and raised awareness in France about the use of drugs to commit abuse.

For years, Gisele Pelicot, Dominique’s now-former wife, had strange memory lapses and other health problems, consulting numerous doctors who could not pinpoint the cause.

Then police told her she had been drugged and raped for nearly a decade by her husband and dozens of strangers he recruited online.

Since its launch, the helpline has received a wave of calls from healthcare providers and victims seeking information about drug-related abuse, said Leila Chaouachi, a doctor who founded the service.

“The doctors who contact us say they, too, might not have noticed anything,” said Chaouachi, referring to Gisele Pelicot’s symptoms.

“What are the warning signs? They feel they don’t have enough training,” she added.