The hours of the helpline 3919 for women victims of domestic violence will be extended "by June" to open 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. The announcement was made this Saturday on Franceinfo by the minister responsible for equality between women and men, Elisabeth Moreno.
READ ALSO>
Domestic violence: five minutes to understand the controversy around the 3919
This expansion, which should particularly benefit women living in overseas departments and territories (currently hampered by the time difference with the metropolis), was announced at the time of the Grenelle against domestic violence, at the end of 2019. The line must also become accessible to people who are deaf or have speech impairments.
To carry out this reform, the government had explained that it was going to “nationalize” the 3919, and consequently had launched a call for tenders at the end of 2020 to select the operator to manage it in the future.
The protest of the National Federation of Solidarity Women (FNSF)
This procedure had been strongly criticized by associations for the defense of women, and in particular by the National Federation of Solidarity Women (FNSF), which created and manages 3919 since 1992 and feared being ousted.
Faced with the scale of the controversy, the government finally announced on January 25 that it agreed to “interrupt” the call for tenders.
Elisabeth Moreno's office then explained that it was going to “study […] all the options on how to continue to keep the 3919 alive and improve”.
"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", assured in November in our columns the director general of the FNSF.
She denounced the government's “mercantile” approach, giving priority, according to her, to the quantity of calls handled rather than the quality of listening to women in distress.
