A small step for the National Federation of Solidarity Women (FNSF) which has been operating the line since 1992: the public contract to designate the operator of the 3919 helpline for women victims of domestic violence has been canceled.
The government has decided to "interrupt" this disputed procedure, announced Monday the minister in charge of the file, Élisabeth Moreno.
The ministry responsible for equality between women and men "will reexamine how to redefine the management mode" of this service and "has decided to interrupt the public procurement procedure in progress," said a statement.
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This call for tenders was strongly contested by the FNSF which, last week, announced that it was going to the administrative courts to try to obtain the cancellation of the competition procedure.
The Federation also indicated that it did not want to apply for the market.
She denounced a “mercantile” approach, giving priority according to her to the quantity of calls handled rather than the quality of listening to women in distress.
"Taking into account the need to bring together"
For the time being, the FNSF is bound by an agreement of objectives and resources to the State, which finances 80% of the line's budget.
But the government - which wants, since the "Grenelle" against domestic violence at the end of 2019, to strengthen this service and in particular to make it accessible 24 hours a day - has so far said that a tendering procedure was essential for legal reasons.
In the medium term, the line will become comparable to a public service, since the State will define its objectives and modalities, and will finance it at 100%, argued the cabinet of Élisabeth Moreno, who specifies that the interruption of the The call for tenders does not constitute "a renunciation" but "the taking into account of the need to bring together".
The ministry also plans, how his cabinet, "to study as soon as possible, with associations and local elected officials, all the options on how to continue to keep and improve the 3919".