France promises to help chemical submission victims amid mass rape trial

France will launch reforms to help women who fear they have been drugged and then raped, including state-funded test kits, Prime Minister Michel Barnier said on Monday, in the midst of a mass rape trial that has shocked the country.

The kits, that could tell a woman if she had been given such drugs, will be funded through the state health insurance system in several regions on a trial basis, he said, without going into more details.

By the end of 2025, women who have been victims of violence will be able to file a complaint in any hospital, Barnier told the same press conference. Women currently have to go to a police station.

Earlier on Monday, French prosecutors asked for the maximum 20-year prison sentence for Dominique Pelicot, for organising the mass rape of his wife Gisele by knocking her unconscious with drugs and inviting dozens of strangers to abuse her.

"These last months the French have been deeply moved by the incredible courage of Gisele Pelicot," Barnier said.

"This trial touches all of us. It raises the little known question of chemical submission," he added, referring to the use of chemical substances to manipulate a person or knock them unconscious so they can be attacked.

"There will not be any tolerance for violence against women."

Gisele Pelicot, 71, could have demanded the trial be kept behind closed doors, but instead asked for it be held in public, saying she hoped it would help other women speak up and show that victims have nothing to be ashamed of.

Dominique Pelicot has admitted in court to the crime. Fifty other men are also charged. Most of them have denied raping Gisele Pelicot.

The verdicts and sentences are expected around Dec. 20.