In a disturbing story that has shocked France and reverberated across Europe, more than 240 women have come forward to allege they were drugged during job interviews by a high-ranking civil servant between 2010 and 2019, according to court documents released on 26 November 2025. The accused, a senior official at the Ministry of Culture named Christian Nègre, reportedly spiked drinks with diuretics , causing victims to experience urgent and uncontrollable need to urinate. Several women say they were taken on long walks during interviews, far from any restroom, leading some to wet themselves publicly, an experience that left many traumatized and humiliated.
The allegations were first documented in 2018, when investigators found a chilling spreadsheet titled “Experiments”, detailing druggings and women’s reactions. Despite being removed from his public-service job in 2019, Nègre now works in the private sector, and the trail of legal accountability has moved too slowly for victims. Many survivors say that the slow pace of justice , paired with shame, fear of disbelief, and retraumatization has deepened their pain.
For women’s rights advocates, the case is emblematic of how abuse is evolving , becoming more insidious, harder to detect, and deeply rooted in power dynamics. It shines a harsh light on institutional failures: a system that allowed a high-level official to abuse women for years, hiding behind professionalism and bureaucracy. On this 26 November, as Europe reels, survivors are demanding more than just charges , they want systemic accountability, better protection for victims, and reforms to prevent such abuses in the future.
