\n<\/p>\n
When Sylvie Delezenne, a marketing expert from Lille, was job-hunting in 2015, she was delighted to be contacted on LinkedIn by a human resources manager at the French culture ministry, inviting her to Paris for an interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my dream to work at the culture ministry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But instead of finding a job, Delezenne, 45, is now one of more than 240 women at the centre of a criminal investigation into the alleged drugging of women without their knowledge in a place they never expected to be targeted: a job interview.<\/p>\n
An investigating judge is examining allegations that, over a nine-year period, dozens of women interviewed for jobs by a senior civil servant, Christian N\u00e8gre, were offered coffees or teas by him that had been mixed with a powerful and illegal diuretic, which he knew would make them need to urinate.<\/p>\n
N\u00e8gre often suggested continuing the interviews outside, on lengthy strolls far from toilets, the women say. Many of the women recall struggling with the need to go to the toilet and feeling increasingly ill. Some, in desperation, say they urinated in public, or didn\u2019t reach a bathroom in time, wetting their clothes. Some felt a sense of shame and failure that has had an impact on their lives, they say.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time, I didn\u2019t even know this type of attack existed,\u201d Delezenne said.<\/p>\n
The alleged assaults came to light in 2018, after a colleague reported N\u00e8gre allegedly attempting to photograph the legs of a senior official, prompting police to open an investigation. Officers found a computer spreadsheet titled \u201cExperiments\u201d, where he had allegedly noted the times of druggings and the women\u2019s reactions.<\/p>\n
<\/span>The case is the latest in France to cast a spotlight on allegations of drug-facilitated abuse, known in the country as \u2018chemical submission\u2019. <\/span> Photograph: Ed Alcock\/The Guardian<\/p>\n In 2019, removed from the ministry and the civil service, N\u00e8gre was placed under formal investigation on several charges ranging from drugging to sexual assault. His lawyer, Vanessa Stein, said he would not comment while the investigation continues. Awaiting trial, N\u00e8gre has been able to continue working in the private sector.<\/p>\n Louise Beriot, a lawyer for several of the women, said of the alleged druggings: \u201cUnder the pretext of a sexual fantasy, this is about power and domination over women\u2019s bodies \u2026 through humiliation and control.\u201d<\/p>\n Six years on, the case is the latest in France to cast a spotlight on drug-facilitated abuse, known in the country as \u201cchemical submission\u201d. The term became prominent last year when Gis\u00e8le Pelicot waived her anonymity in the trial of dozens of men who were found guilty of raping her after she had been drugged unconscious by her ex-husband.<\/p>\n But several women in the job interview drugging investigation said their case was taking too many years to come to trial, only increasing their trauma. \u201cSix years later, we\u2019re still waiting for a trial, which is mind-blowing,\u201d said one of the women, known by the pseudonym \u00c9milie. \u201cIt\u2019s taking too long. The justice process is bringing more trauma than healing. That\u2019s not what justice is supposed to be about.\u201d<\/p>\n My hands were trembling, my heart was palpitating. I said I needed a break. But he kept on walking.Sylvie Delezenne<\/p>\n Delezenne was 35 when she was invited to the prestigious culture ministry building near Paris\u2019s Louvre museum and was shown by N\u00e8gre to a meeting room. Out of politeness, she said, she accepted a coffee. \u201cIn an interview situation, I\u2019d never say no,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The vending machine was in a busy corridor, and Delezenne said she pressed the button herself for a lightly sweetened coffee. She said N\u00e8gre had picked up her cup, turned to greet a colleague, then moved across the corridor, before returning and handing her the drink. He allegedly suggested going outside to view some monuments, adding: \u201cThe weather\u2019s marvellous; shall we keep walking?\u201d<\/p>\n Delezenne said she was led around the Tuileries gardens answering questions for a long time, with the entire interview process lasting several hours. She focused on her need for a job, having left her previous position for health reasons and knowing that her savings were dwindling.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I felt an increasing need to urinate,\u201d she said. \u201cMy hands were trembling, my heart was palpitating, beads of sweat ran down my forehead and I was turning red. I said: \u2018I\u2019m going to need a technical break.\u2019 But he kept on walking.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>\u2018I had nightmares, angry outbursts. I didn\u2019t look for work; I thought I was useless,\u2019 Delezenne said.<\/span> Photograph: Ed Alcock\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Eventually, she couldn\u2019t hold on: \u201cI wasn\u2019t well; I thought what can I do?\u201d She had to crouch down at the side of a tunnel leading to a footbridge across the Seine. She said: \u201cHe approached, took off his jacket and said: \u2018I\u2019ll shield you.\u2019 I thought that was strange.\u201d<\/p>\n She was devastated. \u201cI thought: \u2018I\u2019ve wrecked my interview.\u2019\u201d On the way home she was abnormally thirsty, quickly downing litres of water. \u201cMy feet were so swollen they were bleeding from rubbing my shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n In the months and years that followed, Delezenne blamed herself for \u201cmessing up\u201d. She avoided going to Paris and stopped applying for jobs. \u201cI had nightmares, angry outbursts. I didn\u2019t look for work; I thought I was useless,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Four years later, in 2019, police contacted her. She said she discovered her details had been entered into a spreadsheet, along with photographs of her lower legs. She has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. \u201cThe time this is taking to come to trial is weighing on me,\u201d she said. \u201cThe anger is not going away.\u201d<\/p>\n Another woman to have been contacted by police is Ana\u00efs de Vos, who was 28 when she applied for a job as a managerial assistant at the culture ministry in 2011. She doesn\u2019t habitually drink coffee. \u201cBut in an interview when someone offers coffee, especially the manager, you say yes,\u201d she said. N\u00e8gre went to a corner of the meeting room to prepare it himself, she said.<\/p>\n He looked me in the eye and said: ‘Do you need a wee?’ I found it bizarre.Ana\u00efs de Vos<\/p>\n He suggested they walk outside, but de Vos started to need the toilet, and asked to head back because she was cold. Instead, she said, he crossed the road in the other direction, to the banks of the Seine.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cHe looked me in the eye and said: \u2018Do you need a wee?\u2019 It was like an adult talking to a child. I found it bizarre, so I replied quite coldly.\u201d He gestured to a storage unit under a bridge as a place to urinate, but she refused. \u201cI had a warning light in my head telling me there was something wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n N\u00e8gre suggested going towards the Louvre. But the toilet that de Vos found cost \u20ac1 and N\u00e8gre had told her to leave her bag behind at the ministry. She had no money, and he said he had none to lend her.<\/p>\n Eventually, unable to cope, she entered a cafe. The toilet was upstairs, and as soon as she saw the door, she began to wet her clothes, but managed to dry herself. On the train home later, she said she had felt \u201creally ill and as if I was about to faint\u201d.<\/p>\n She wasn\u2019t surprised to be contacted by police in 2019. \u201cI always thought something was strange,\u201d she said. \u201cThe justice system has taken too long \u2026 For us, it feels like we\u2019re being victimised a second time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00c9milie, whose lawyer advised she use a pseudonym because the investigation is ongoing, was 29 and established in the arts world when she began looking for a new job in 2017. She was contacted by N\u00e8gre on LinkedIn and invited to the regional culture office in Strasbourg, where he then worked. He offered her tea and left the room to make it himself, before continuing the interview on a river walk and cathedral visit, which lasted two hours, she said.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI wanted to go to the bathroom, but he said: \u2018There are no toilets here. Let\u2019s just carry on.\u2019 He was walking very, very slowly, stopping to ask questions. I was feeling dizzy; I thought I might pass out.\u201d She made it back, and he showed her straight to a private toilet directly adjoining his office. \u201cIt felt really weird,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Two years later, she heard about a media report on an investigation into alleged drugging with diuretics by an unnamed figure at the culture ministry. \u201cSuddenly everything made sense, but it was an immense shock,\u201d she said. She filed a complaint with police. She left her Strasbourg job, and later left France.<\/p>\n Beriot said the case was on an \u201cextraordinary scale\u201d and the unusually long investigation amounted in legal terms to \u201csecondary victimisation\u201d of the women by the justice system. She said: \u201cThe Pelicot trial was a very important first step and chemical submission remains a vast issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Some women have won compensation in a civil case against the state, where the culture ministry itself was not found to be at fault. A culture ministry official said it was committed to preventing harassment and sexual violence and providing support to survivors.<\/p>\n The CGT culture trade union said: \u201cWe want the ministry to recognise its responsibility as an employer \u2013 there is a systemic problem, which enabled a senior civil servant to act like this for a decade.\u201d The union said other staff had previously made allegations against him, accusing him of taking pictures of women\u2019s legs in meetings.<\/p>\n Delezenne, who now works in marketing for a hairdresser in Lille, said: \u201cMy priority is that this never happens to anyone else again.\u201d<\/p>\n Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org\/rcip\/internl.html<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Sylvie Delezenne, a marketing expert from Lille, was job-hunting in 2015, she was delighted to be contacted on LinkedIn by a human resources manager at the French culture ministry, inviting her to Paris for an interview. \u201cIt was my dream to work at the culture ministry,\u201d she said. 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