Chemical submission: MP Sandrine Josso at the head of a parliamentary mission against this scourge

Sandrine Josso at the head of a mission on this scourge

“On November 14, I went to a friend’s house with a light heart to celebrate his re-election. I came out terrified: I discovered an attacker. I then understand that I was drugged without my knowledge (…) Faced with this still little-known scourge, it is urgent to remember that chemical submission consists of drugging a person without their knowledge in order to abuse them without them can react or sometimes even be aware of it. In other words, the several hundred suspicious reports recorded each year are only the visible part of the iceberg, which does not take into account people in therapeutic wandering and whose symptoms of chemical submission have not been detected. declared Sandrine Josso upon her return to the National Assembly on January 16.

After her attack, she became spokesperson for the association founded by Caroline Darian.Don’t fall asleep: stop chemical submission“, which actively works to lift the veil on this phenomenon.

According to information from Le Parisien, the MP has just been entrusted with a six-month mission on this phenomenon by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. On the program: inventory of the effectiveness of existing systems, estimation of the number of victims, hearing of associations, health professionals… an increase in resources dedicated to the fight against this public health tragedy.

The number of victims remains largely underestimated

Do you know about chemical submission? “Chemical or medicinal submission is the administration for criminal or misdemeanor purposes of psychoactive substances without the victim’s knowledge. can we read on the website of the Academy of Medicine. Forced administration, under threat, also enters into this context but not the voluntary taking of a substance. Chemical submission is therefore the act of drugging a future victim, so that they allow themselves to be done.

While 9 out of 10 victims are women, this practice aims to commit sexual assault in 70% of cases. Chemical submission in the private sphere today represents a blind spot in the fight against violence against women. Far from clichés, the administration of psychotropic or medicinal products without the victims’ knowledge or under threat today very often takes place within the private sphere and by a loved one.

The number of reports for “chemical submission” is constantly increasing in France. In 2022, nearly 2,000 complaints or calls were recorded by the Paris addictovigilance center (AP-HP), compared to 721 cases in 2021 and 539 cases of “attacks facilitated by drugs” reported in 2020.

However, these figures are still far from reality as they do not take into account people in therapeutic wandering and whose symptoms linked to chemical submission have not been detected.

Easily accessible medications

“In many investigations, the suspicion of chemical submission is ultimately not confirmed, the tests coming back negative. Because in reality, it is alcohol, the first toxicant used in chemical submission, which caused memory loss and not a drug or medication.” specifies Dr. Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo.

Victims of chemical submission often describe the same scenario: a drink of alcohol, followed by a blackout, with no memory of what happened when they wake up. “Medications or drugs used for chemical submission have just this purpose” confirms Dr. Kierzek. “Their aim is to bring the victim to a passive, amorphous state, with amnesia upon awakening.“.

Drugs used to chemically subdue a victim must possess different targeted effects. Among which :

• Sedation or hypnosis, which keeps the victim asleep and prevents any untimely awakening. This state also makes it possible to annihilate any possible response to the aggressor;
• A disinhibition, which will be both emotional, but also of a sexual nature leading the victim to accept situations and actions that they would not accept in their normal state;
• Anterograde amnesia, which contributes to altering the testimony and making it less credible. This state also introduces doubt into the victim, even a feeling of guilt. This amnesia can also delay the victim’s filing of a complaint;
• Hallucinations, which promote the loss of spatio-temporal references. Which makes the description of the places and the calendar of events very imprecise.

Depending on the doctor, medications such as antidepressants, sleeping pills, anxiolitics, benzodiazapines with hypnotic effects or GHB, nicknamed “the rapist drug” are used because they are easily accessible. In addition, it is necessary that the drug has no taste or odor, so as not to alert the victim. “Products used as part of a chemical submission must be odorless, colorless and tasteless” confirms Dr. Gérald Kierzek.

“Even today, all you have to do is go to the Internet to find, using the medications you have on hand, instructions for use for the good little predator.” specifies Caroline Darian in the columns of Le Parisien.

What to do if you are the victim of chemical submission?

If you are the victim of chemical submission, and you wake up in an unknown place, without knowing what happened to you, you must immediately flee the place, advises the medical director of Doctissimo. “The first instinct to have is to leave the place where you are to file a complaint and go to the emergency room, so that the necessary examinations can be carried out. You must of course also file a complaint, ideally before arriving at the emergency room.“.