A cameraman looks up at the building where Dominique Strauss-Kahn is currently staying on house arrest in New York City May 21, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Crisis management

He is only allowed to leave his apartment to travel within Manhattan for court appearances, meetings with his lawyers, medical appointments and a weekly religious observance.

His legal team has informally sought public relations advice from a Washington consulting firm, TD International, run by former CIA officers and US diplomats. A source said if the firm signs on, its role will be helping in crisis management.

In France, Le Monde reported Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have employed Guidepost Solutions, a global investigations firm headed by Bart Schwartz, former criminal division chief in the Manhattan District Attorney's office. Other company officers include the former global head of security for IBM and a former federal prosecutor and US Secret Service special agent.

Also in France, feminist organizations published a petition saying they were "stunned by the daily flood of misogynist comments by public figures" since Strauss-Kahn was detained.

They said his friends and allies have downplayed the plight of the alleged victim -- former French culture minister Jack Lang said Strauss-Kahn should have been released earlier, considering "nobody has died."

"We are witnessing a sudden rise of sexist and reactionary reflexes, so quick to surface among part of the French elite," the groups said in a statement on the website of the newspaper.