French sexual abuse victims denounce police mistreatment

By SYLVIE CORBET and ARNO PEDRAM
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Thousands of French women have denounced in an online campaign the response of police officers victim-blaming them or mishandling their complaints as they were reporting sexual abuse. The hashtag #DoublePeine (#DoubleSentencing) was launched last month after reports that a 19-year-old woman who filed a rape complaint in the southern city of Montpellier was asking in graphic terms whether she experienced pleasure during the assault. The hashtag quickly went viral, with women describing similar experiences in Montpellier and other police stations across France. Women’s rights group NousToutes counted at least 30,000 accounts of mistreatment . The interior minister has announced an internal investigation in Montpellier and acknowledged things “can still be improved.”