The new member of the government is the subject of three complaints for gynecological violence. Several women tell of their time in his office.
After the Damien Abad affair, it is the turn of the new Secretary of State in charge of Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships to be at the heart of a legal case. Originally, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou worked as a gynecologist-obstetrician in hospitals in the Paris region. Renowned in her profession, especially for her work on endometriosis, the gynecologist is today in turmoil.
She is the target of three complaints from her former patients. Two of them accuse him of “gynecological rapes”, that is to say, forced penetration during gynecological examinations in his office. On June 23, a third filed a complaint for “violence without incapacity for work by a person in charge of a public service mission” was filed with the Paris prosecutor’s office, France Info tells us.
We were able to hear the testimonies of several alleged victims. In particular in the Quotidien program on TMC. Other stories continue to emerge. France Info published this Friday, June 24 the story of six other patients who believe they have been mistreated by the Secretary of State.
“I saw the women come out of his office crying”
These umpteenth testimonies delivered to the continuous news channel evoke traumatic consultations. Among the stories, that of 21-year-old Emma, who consulted the gynecologist for her endometriosis. “In the waiting room, I saw the women come out of his office crying. And then it was my turn”, says the ex-patient. “She said to me: ‘I’m going to give you a vaginal examination’, without asking my opinion”, Emma remembers. The patient says that she then had to undergo the use of a speculum as part of the examination. An act “brutal” and “sore” tells the patient to France Info, who is however used to this medical examination.
When she comes out of this exam, she is traumatized and when she arrives at her mother’s, she is in tears. His mother, worried, asks him: “Were you raped? She replied: ‘Limit’”remembers Emma’s mother.
Another patient interviewed by France Info recounted a painful episode when she had to do an endovaginal ultrasound which is performed using a probe that is introduced into the vagina.
“She put it on me without lubricant, it was dry”, says the patient who testifies under the pseudonym of Lola. The latter explains that she “nearly screamed in pain”. The gynecologist would then have replied: “Stop sissing.”
Many of them mention verbal abuse, examinations carried out “with the delicacy of a butcher-charcutier”or even “coldness” of the Secretary of State.
No legal proceedings but letters from patients
These new witnesses found by France Info have not launched legal proceedings against Chrysoula Zacharopoulou. One of them only contacted the association for the fight against endometriosis ENDOmind with which Chrysoula Zacharopoulou worked. The head of the association invited him to contact the head of the gynecological department of the hospital where she was received. What she would have done.
France Info specifies that the National College of French Obstetrician Gynecologists explained that it had received a letter of complaint from “the head of a collective of women”. However, the letter did not include details or dates of the abuse.
While the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) told the media that it had never heard of a complaint against the gynecologist.
The Secretary of State, for her part, refutes all these accusations. She spoke through an official statement. “The serious accusations against me, relating to medical clinical examinations carried out in order to diagnose and treat the illness of my patients, are unacceptable and outrageous”, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou defended herself.
Freelance journalist, Amina is passionate about societal trends which she dissects with words. She pays particular attention to women’s rights and equal opportunities. When she…