Several women have recently testified after discomfort caused by a prick in the arm or leg, during evenings in a nightclub. An investigation has been opened by the public prosecutor of Nantes.
While the nightclubs have reopened since February 16, the testimonies of young women reporting discomfort after showing traces of a bite are increasing. In Nantes and its metropolis, “a dozen people, exclusively young women”, reported this type of facts, according to the public prosecutor, Renaud Gaudeul. Several nightclubs in the Loire-Atlantique prefecture and its surroundings are concerned.
“Some young women get dizzy right after feeling like a prick”, said the prosecutor. A survey for “administration of substances harmful to health” was thus opened by the Nantes prosecutor’s office, according to France Bleu Loire Océan. It was entrusted to the departmental security.
Laly, a 20-year-old student, told France Bleu Loire Océan that she felt a strong migraine last week. “At the end of the evening, I had a very sore arm, then a very bad headache for no apparent reason.she testified. The next day, I have a bruise with a small red dot in the middle, I did not notice at all that it was a bite at the beginning. On social networks, other testimonies of victims of these bites have flowed. The young women concerned invite people showing signs of discomfort to be screened as soon as possible via a blood test.
Prevention campaign
“The analysis is useful only if it is carried out very quickly, within twenty-four hours”specifies Renaud Gaudeul, who also calls on people who are victims of this type of event to come quickly to manifest themselves to the gendarmerie or the police. “We take these facts very seriously, he told France Bleu. We invite customers to be vigilant, just like employees of nightclubs.
Institutions have been doing prevention against GHB for several years, in particular, a painless and colorless substance nicknamed the “rape drug”. When the nightclubs reopened on February 16, a communication campaign by the Ministry of the Interior was also launched to warn of the dangers and provide better support for victims of sexual violence. This fall, the testimonies of victims drugged without their knowledge multiplied on social networks, first in Belgium, then in France. Feminist collectives have called for a boycott of bars and clubs by launching the hashtag #BalanceTonBar.