Who will now respond to women victims of domestic violence?
While for decades, they have been able to find an attentive ear at 3919, the national listening number in France, a change could take place behind the handset.
The government plans to submit the telephone line to a competitive process to designate the structure that should continue to organize this service in 2021. A decision strongly criticized by associations fighting against violence against women.
The health crisis has recalled, if necessary, the importance of 3919. The National Federation of Solidarity Women (FNSF) has counted no less than 100,000 calls since January, including 50,000 during confinement, a figure up 20 %.
Since 1992, the FNSF, supported by a network of 73 associations in the territory, has been in charge of the telephone platform.
READ ALSO>
Domestic violence: 15% increase in online reports since confinement
But for how long?
"The government wants to transform the financial support that it has paid up to now to 3919 into a public market open to competition while associations demanded an increase in this financial assistance to make it possible to switch to a 24-hour service", alert the association in its petition launched on the Change.org site.
A new legal framework for summer 2021
The government actually plans to launch a public procurement procedure before the end of the year, in order to arrive at a new legal framework for the 3919 by June or July 2021. If this development, announced during the "Grenelle" against domestic violence, should allow the extension of the hours of the crisis line, which will operate 24 hours a day, and open to people who are deaf or have language disorders, it hides other problems according to the associations.
"A public market would reduce the quality of the 3919 which provides listening, psychological support, advice, initial legal and social information at the service of callers and their relatives," they say.
“The question of competition and the market is correlated with a question of costs.
However, this will inevitably play on the response given to women by an operator, ”predicted from the Parisian Françoise Brié, general manager of the National Federation of Solidarity Women, who fears a stranglehold by the State.
A "nationalized" platform
The government now finances 80% of the crisis line budget, the rest coming from local communities and patrons.
In 2019, the state subsidy to the FNSF was 1.6 million euros.
But the executive wants to move to 100% funding.
"We are making this line a real public service," says the cabinet of the Minister for Gender Equality, Elisabeth Moreno.
Contacted for more information, the firm was not available in the middle of the day to answer our questions.
The telephone platform will thus become “public, and so to speak nationalized”, and consequently “recourse to public procurement is essential”.
Without such a procedure, the risk of legal challenge would be “proven”, which could “delay the commissioning” of the revamped platform, or even “endanger” it.
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
To avoid any legal trouble, the FNSF has yet a ready-made solution.
"We think that the extension of 3919 can work with a subsidy, because it is a mission of general interest, within the framework of a multi-year agreement of objectives (CPO) as is currently the case", assures Françoise Brié.