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 bladder control during interviews conducted 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 the French Ministry of Culture in Paris in 2011.
He said Nègre offered him a cup of coffee, which he made himself. Although he rarely drank coffee, he accepted it out of courtesy, but noticed that it had an unusual taste.
Shortly after, he said he began to feel extremely weak and developed an uncontrollable urge to urinate.
As they walked through Paris, Anaïs said she desperately searched for a bathroom. She alleged that Nègre directed her to a closet under a bridge and told her she could urinate there.
She finally found a coffee shop where she could go to the bathroom, but she said she lost control of her bladder before she got there.
“I felt very weak physically,” he recalled.
Anaïs said the incident left her confused and distressed and she initially couldn’t explain what had happened.
Years later, in 2019, police contacted her and told her she was among nearly 200 women who suspected Nègre of drugging during job interviews.
He said the discovery was shocking, but also assured her that he had not imagined the incident.
“I was surprised,” he said. “But I was glad to know he wasn’t crazy. Something had happened that day.”
Police are believed to have found a spreadsheet on Nègre’s computer titled “P Experiments”. According to Anaïs, the document contained details about the women, including the time they arrived, when they were administered the alleged drug, how long it took them to urinate, and what underwear they were wearing.
Investigators believe Nègre used diuretics, medications that increase urine production and are commonly prescribed for medical conditions such as high blood pressure.
The investigation began in 2018 after a colleague reportedly caught Nègre taking a photograph of a woman under 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, now 60, is under formal investigation for allegations including drugs, invasion of privacy and sexual assault. He is awaiting trial.
The BBC brought the allegations to him through his lawyer, but he refused to comment.
Another alleged victim, Marie-Hélène Brice, claimed that Nègre interviewed her in Strasbourg in 2016.
She recalled that he suggested they leave the interview location to go for a walk because she seemed stressed. While walking along a canal, she said she developed an uncontrollable urge to urinate.
Marie-Hélène said Nègre directed her to a place where he said there was a public bathroom, but there was none.
She finally had to urinate in public and said Nègre offered to protect her with his jacket while he continued to stare at her.
For years, she said, she felt ashamed of what had happened.
Marie-Hélène said the incident caused her lasting psychological distress and urinary problems. He described what happened as a sexual assault even though it does not fit the conventional understanding of sexual violence.
“They have attacked me, they have intoxicated me, they have poisoned me, but for me it is clearly a sexual assault,” he stated.
The allegations have drawn attention to the broader 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 parliamentarian Sandrine Josso has become a prominent advocate on the issue. She helped introduce a pilot program that allows women who believe they have been drugged to submit blood, urine or hair samples for analysis without first filing a formal report with police.
However, experts say detecting drugs can be difficult if testing is not done soon after an alleged incident. Some substances disappear from the blood and urine relatively quickly, while hair tests can make it difficult to establish exactly when a drug was administered.
Professor Jean-Claude Alvarez, a toxicologist involved in the testing programme, called the alleged use of diuretics in this way very unusual and said 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 communicating with authorities.
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“For four years I was alone knowing I was a victim,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do. I’m very angry at the justice system.”
Marie-Hélène described the delays as “secondary victimization” and said alleged victims often feel like they are not taken seriously.
The UN has also called for stronger measures 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 these cases and warned that delays in addressing 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 of what happened to her.
“I don’t have to hide, I’m a victim,” he said.
He added that speaking publicly had helped other alleged victims recognize their experiences and report them to authorities.
(BBC News)
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