Abuse victims' lifeline

DRUGGING: EVEN DOCTORS UNSURE ABOUT SYMPTOMS OF ATTACKS

• Organisation gives vital information on tell-tale signs.

Some callers are women fearful they have been drugged and sexually assaulted; others are doctors worried they have misdiagnosed them – a helpline set up amid France's notorious mass rape trial has tapped a nation's unease.

The helpline, known as the Reference Centre on Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault (or Crafs, its acronym in French), was launched by a Paris health centre on 15 October.

That was during testimony at the rape trial of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other defendants, which has shocked the country, sparked mass protests and raised awareness in France about the use of drugs to commit abuse.

For years, Gisele Pelicot, Dominique's now-former wife, had strange memory lapses and other health problems, consulting numerous doctors who could not pinpoint the cause.