a new system will allow evidence to be collected without filing a complaint in Paris

Antoine Bienvault / Photo credits: Benoit Durand / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 06:15, October 21, 2024, modified at 06:57, October 21, 2024

The Paris Police Prefecture, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the APHP have just signed an agreement to collect material elements (semen, blood, etc.) upon treatment of a victim of rape or sexual assault. Evidence which will be kept for three years while waiting for the victim to possibly file a complaint.

This is news that could improve criminal repression of rape and sexual assault. The APHP, the Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris, signed an agreement ten days ago with the Paris police headquarters and the public prosecutor’s office, to secure evidence of sexual violence while awaiting a possible filing of a complaint.

A conclusive test phase

Concretely, this means that a woman victim of rape can now, after a compulsory visit to the emergency room, benefit from biological samples which can be kept for three years, the time for the victim to possibly decide to file a complaint. The examinations will take place at the women’s center located in the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Paris.

Ce system, which is based on the preservation of evidence without prior filing of a complaint, was already in place within the Maison des femmes de l’Hôtel-Dieu AP-HP, since January 2023, making it possible to evaluate its effectiveness. Over the year 2023, 22 victims benefited from the procedure and 16 victims over the first nine months of 2024. In total, six women treated in 2023 and five in 2024 have already filed a complaint.