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Anne-Claire Le Jeune, a lawyer who has worked on many cases of sexual abuse, including the Jeffrey Epstein case, said that if there are a lot of women involved, the prosecutor “has the moral duty to open an investigation to try to figure out exactly how this abuse could happen”.

Ms Le Jeune said another woman had contacted her directly in recent days alleging abuse by Al Fayed.

French prosecutors are under no obligation to open an investigation but both Ms Le Jeune and Ms Svensson are hoping increased media attention in France may prompt other women to come forward.

The other, Martin Le Jeune, who stopped writing for the paper in 2021 says it is creating a "hateful and divided" atmosphere, where "somebody who could be emotional or psychologically unstable could be triggered to do something terrible".

Seven Stories Press, which has been publishing Ernaux’s work in the United States since 1991, will release her newest book in French, “Le jeune homme,” in 2023.