Nearly 250 women have accused a former senior French civil servant of drugging them during job interviews and subjecting them to humiliating situations, according to a BBC investigation.
The women allege that Christian Nègre used drugs to make them lose control of their bladders during interviews between 2009 and 2018. The alleged practice is known as chemical submission, in which drugs are used to control or incapacitate another person.
One alleged victim, Anaïs de Vos, said she was 27 when she met Nègre for a job interview at France’s Ministry of Culture in Paris in 2011.
She said Nègre offered her a cup of coffee, which he prepared himself. Although she rarely drank coffee, she accepted it out of politeness but noticed that it tasted unusual.
Shortly afterwards, she said she began feeling extremely weak and developed an uncontrollable urge to urinate.
As they walked through Paris, Anaïs said she desperately searched for a toilet. She alleged that Nègre directed her towards a storage cupboard under a bridge and told her she could urinate there.
She eventually found a café where she could use the toilet but said she lost control of her bladder before reaching it.
“I felt really weak physically,” she recalled.
Anaïs said she was left confused and distressed by the incident and initially could not explain what had happened.
Years later, in 2019, police contacted her and told her that she was among almost 200 women they suspected Nègre had drugged during job interviews.
She said the discovery was shocking but also gave her reassurance that she had not imagined the incident.
“I was shocked,” she said. “But I was happy to know I wasn’t crazy. Something had happened that day.”
Police are believed to have found a spreadsheet on Nègre’s computer titled “Experiments P”. According to Anaïs, the document contained details about the women, including the time they arrived, when the alleged drug was administered, how long it took before they urinated and what underwear they were wearing.
Investigators believe Nègre used diuretics, drugs that increase urine production and are commonly prescribed for medical conditions including high blood pressure.
The investigation began in 2018 after a colleague reportedly caught Nègre taking a photograph of a woman from beneath a table. He was suspended from his position as regional director of cultural affairs before being dismissed by the Ministry of Culture in 2019.
Nègre, who is now in his 60s, is under formal investigation on allegations including drugging, invasion of privacy and sexual assault. He is awaiting trial.
The BBC put the allegations to him through his lawyer, but he declined to comment.
Another alleged victim, Marie-Hélène Brice, said she was interviewed by Nègre in Strasbourg in 2016.
She recalled that he suggested they leave the interview location for a walk because she appeared stressed. While they walked beside a canal, she said she developed an uncontrollable need to urinate.
Marie-Hélène said Nègre directed her to a location where he claimed there was a public toilet, but there was none.
She eventually had to urinate in public and said Nègre offered to shield her with his jacket while continuing to watch her.
For years, she said, she felt ashamed about what had happened.
Marie-Hélène said the incident caused lasting psychological distress and urinary problems. She described what happened as a sexual assault despite it not fitting the conventional understanding of sexual violence.
“I have been attacked, I have been intoxicated, I have been poisoned, but for me it is a sexual assault, clearly,” she said.
The allegations have drawn attention to the wider issue of chemical submission in France, particularly since the high-profile case of Gisèle Pelicot, whose husband was convicted of drugging her and facilitating her rape by other men.
French MP Sandrine Josso has become a prominent campaigner on the issue. She helped introduce a pilot programme allowing women who believe they have been drugged to submit blood, urine or hair samples for testing without first filing a formal police complaint.
However, experts say detecting drugs can be difficult if testing does not happen soon after an alleged incident. Some substances disappear from blood and urine relatively quickly, while hair testing can make it difficult to establish exactly when a drug was administered.
Professor Jean-Claude Alvarez, a toxicologist involved in the testing programme, described the alleged use of diuretics in this way as highly unusual, saying he had never encountered a similar case in 26 years of practice.
The investigation has also raised concerns about the length of time victims have had to wait for the case to progress.
Anaïs said she first spoke to police in 2019 but heard little about the investigation for years despite repeatedly contacting authorities.
“For four years, I was alone with the knowledge that I was a victim,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do. I am very angry with the justice system.”
Marie-Hélène described the delays as “secondary victimisation”, saying alleged victims often feel they are not being taken seriously.
The UN has also called for stronger action against drug-facilitated sexual violence. Kalliopi Mingeirou of UN Women told the BBC that governments, police and justice systems needed to do more to address such cases and warned that delays in dealing with allegations of abuse can have devastating consequences for victims.
Despite the trauma, some of the women who have spoken publicly say they hope their stories will encourage others to come forward.
Marie-Hélène said she no longer wanted to feel ashamed about what happened to her.
“I don’t have to hide myself – I am a victim,” she said.
She added that speaking publicly had helped other alleged victims recognise their experiences and report them to authorities.
BBC
