A group of women who have alleged sexual assault or rape in France are calling for the abolition of the statute of limitations, which they say has prevented them from seeking justice in criminal proceedings.

It is the first time more than 50 women alleging sexual assault and rape by men, including Jeffrey Epstein, his former business partner and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel and billionaire businessman Mohammed Al Fayed, have come together collectively to demand the change to French law.

Currently, there is a 20-year statute of limitations for adults wanting to report sexual assault or rape to French authorities and a 30-year limitation from the date the crime occurred if they were a minor.

The women, who have formed a collective called Survivors' Voices, said during a press conference that the restriction of reporting their assaults makes them feel like their case "doesn't matter simply because of the date" it occurred.

"Rape doesn't expire, trauma doesn't expire," Thysia Husiman said.

She alleges she was raped at the age of 18 in Paris by model agent Jean-Luc Brunel.

He was found hanged in his cell in La Santé prison in 2022, whilst being held on suspicion of the rape of minors and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation.

Former BBC producer Lisa Brinkworth, who claims she was sexually assaulted while working undercover to expose abuse in the fashion industry by Elite Model Management boss Gerald Marie, announced she was taking her case to the European Court of Human Rights.

She posed as a model in a documentary for the BBC's Donal McIntyre Investigates series in 1998, but reported her allegation to police in 2021.

Her case against Marie was dismissed because her 20-year statute of limitations had run out in France.

After two appeals, including one to France's highest court, Brinkworth was told that her case was barred by the statute of limitations and could not be pursued.

"At the time, I was directed not to report the assault [by people who worked for the BBC]. I was in the middle of a high-profile, very expensive television documentary series.

"Then to have a producer on the show who was assaulted was a huge embarrassment to the corporation. I think it was an inconvenience, but it also meant that had I reported it at that time, filming would have stalled for however long or probably disbanded altogether."

She also said that even if she had wanted to report the accusation to the police, the evidence gathered at the time was denied to her by senior members of the team.

Brinkworth said the BBC is still refusing to assist her case by not giving her "vital evidence" from the raw footage where she says she recorded her account of the assault in the minutes after it had happened.

After the documentary aired in November 1999, Elite Models sued the BBC alleging misrepresentation. They entered a legally binding agreement which the BBC will not divulge the details of.

Brinkworth said she was "specifically and categorically told a number of times" by the BBC that she was "legally bound" not to speak out about any aspect of the documentary, including her own alleged assault.

A lawyer for Gérald Marie said: "The allegations made by the complainants have already been the subject of a thorough investigation in France. That investigation was closed without further action."

A spokesperson for the BBC said: "As we've always made clear, we take these matters very seriously and we know the situation is distressing for Lisa Brinkworth. The BBC is not trying to silence Ms Brinkworth; she is free to speak about the BBC investigation and her experiences, and has done so.

"We have already provided material to the French authorities to help Ms Brinkworth pursue the matter and investigators have assured us they have what they currently need from the BBC. We have also provided material to Ms Brinkworth directly. We will continue to do whatever we can to assist with the process."