If the press regularly relays the testimonies of people drugged without their knowledge with GHB in bars or nightclubs, a phenomenon that gave rise to the #balancetonbar movement, we know less about chemical submission within the family sphere.

A new hashtag emerged during an awareness campaign on the subject: #mendorspas. This initiative, broadcast on social networks, was launched by Caroline Darian, author of the literary testimony entitled “And I stopped calling you Papa”, dealing with the chemical submission and the multiple rapes orchestrated by his father on his mother. “Chemical submission is to drug a person without their knowledge, to abuse them without her being able to react or even being aware of it”, she explains in a YouTube video (below). She recounts the unthinkable: for ten years, her father drugged her mother with sleeping pills and anxiolytics, abused her, then orchestrated the rapes of other men on his wife.

Introducing GHB, known as the date rape drug, used at parties, as the tip of the iceberg, Caroline Darian explains that in the family sphere, women but also sometimes children or even men, may be victims of chemical submission by a close aggressor.

The purpose of the movement: alert and inform as many people as possible, including health professionals who are sometimes unaware of the existence of such a scenario, to prevent these dramatic situations but also optimize support the victims. If 600 complaints per year are filed for acts of aggression under chemical submission, this figure could be greatly underestimated given the difficulty for the victims to recognize themselves as such and to file a complaint, due to evidence that is often difficult to provide.

On the website dedicated to the campaign, mendorpas.orgare listed some of the signs and symptoms of a chemical submission: amnesia, drowsiness, dizziness, convulsions, behavioral disorders, nausea, vomiting… They are all the more suggestive of a chemical submission in the presence of suspecting signs. an assault: changes in clothing that we do not remember, signs of physical violence, loss of personal effects, discovery of suspicious products…

If you think you have been drugged at the end of your life, it is advisable to keep elements to certify it (drink or food samples, medicine packaging, etc.). As the drug can be detected via hair analysis, care should be taken to avoid drapes, cuts or any other aggressive treatment, for sampling for analysis.

Movement #Mendorspas give several phone numbers for help:

• France Victim: 116,006 (7 days a week; 24 hours a day)
• Violence Women Info: 3919 (7 days a week, 24 hours a day)
• Drug Info Service: 0 800 23 13 13 (7 days a week; 8 a.m. to 2 a.m.)