France has repealed a sexual harassment law on the grounds that the definition of the crime was too vague, sparking renewed debate of an issue put into the spotlight by the arrest of one-time presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn last year.
Some women's groups said the decision, by France's highest constitutional body, would leave victims without legal protection until a new law is penned, while others argued an improved law could lead to more convictions.
The former International Monetary Fund chief was arrested last May, accused of sexual assault by a hotel maid. The charges were later dropped but the ensuing scandal cast a harsh light on a practice in France of hushing up or shrugging off sexual advances by powerful figures.
Meanwhile, investigators are examining accusations that he may have been involved in a rape at a Washington hotel in 2010, the prosecutors office in the northern city of Lille said Friday.
The accusations come from two Belgian prostitutes.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was charged last month with "aggravated procurement in an organised gang," the legal term for pimping, over accusations that he was involved in a prostitution ring in Lille.