Pharmacists as lookouts, shopping centers for listening places, a temporary housing platform for violent spouses. Faced with the upsurge in reports of domestic violence observed since the start of confinement (+ 32% in the gendarmerie area, + 36% in the Paris region), several temporary arrangements have been put in place by the government to help battered women. A device provided for the entire duration of confinement.
Read also: Violence against women at a time of confinement: a sharp increase in reports
Thursday, April 9, in Amiens, in the Somme, a woman in her twenties was found dead at home, stabbed by her companion. The day before, in Verneuil-sur-Avre, in the Eure region, a home nurse discovered two bodies while coming to look after a couple in their nineties: the husband had killed his wife, before turning the gun against him. On April 7 in Saint-Quentin, in Aisne, a forties was strangled by her spouse. Sunday April 5, a mother and two of her children were stabbed to death in Pas-de-Calais… The litany of feminicides continues, inexorably, everywhere in France.
Immediate appearances
“Being confined to your home generates tensions; reports related to gender-based and sexual violence are increasing sharply , " said AFP Captain Patrice Georget, commander of the digital gendarmerie brigade, which records around twenty reports per day, compared to five or six previously. In Haute-Garonne, domestic violence is up 83% in the gendarmerie zone, compared to the same period in 2019. An ad hoc cell, composed of two female gendarmes in telework, has just been created to monitor the victims.
In Gironde, the Remuménage association, which notably offers “solidarity-based moving services” to women victims, also notes this exacerbation of violence. "Usually, we have between 20 and 50 cases per year of moves for this reason ," said Wiaro Benyachou, general manager of Remuménage. But since March 18, we have already made 10 moves, and just yesterday, we received three calls from women in distress. They are linked to a victim assistance association. Some go to hotels or to empty accommodation in the city of Bordeaux ” .
"Mask 19" is the code name to be transmitted to pharmacists in the event of domestic violence. If the woman wishes to alert the police, it is up to the pharmacist to collect her identity. He can also offer him the “discreet delivery” of a leaflet containing the contact details of the police (17, text at 114), support services (3919 and 119) as well as the address of the platform. reporting sexual and gender-based violence and 24-hour chat. In parallel, around twenty “ephemeral support points” will be deployed in the coming weeks in certain shopping centers.
Read also: Victims of domestic violence can alert their pharmacist during confinement
Created last Monday, the temporary housing platform to allow the eviction of violent spouses has already received ten requests from prosecutors, probation officers or associations. This "exceptional device" , launched at the same time as a national number dedicated to listening to violent spouses, "assesses the availability of accommodation with our usual partners" and "can make use of hotel nights which are paid for by the government, "said Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet. Despite the confinement that has practically brought the courts to a close, domestic violence remains "priority and urgent litigation" , giving rise to protection orders and immediate appearances. As of April 10, 330 landfills for domestic violence, 82 protection orders, 91 orders for the placement of minors at risk have been issued, according to the ministry. A thousand “serious danger” phones had been allocated. As for the protection orders in progress, they are all extended.
