A government report has just revealed that confinement has been the source of a real awareness of violence against women in the private setting.
45,000. This is the number of calls received by 3919 (the listening number for women victims of domestic violence) during confinement, from March 16 to May 10, an average of nearly 800 calls per day. This maddening data is part of the conclusions of a report published on Wednesday July 29 by Élisabeth Moiron-Braud, Secretary General of the Interministerial Mission for the Protection of Women against Violence and the Fight against Human Trafficking (MIPROF).
"In close collaboration with associations, with local communities, with our police forces as well as with the private sector, the Government was fully mobilized during this unprecedented period which presented, for women victims of domestic violence, a additional risk of exposure. Elisabeth Moiron-Braud's report highlights the good practices and innovative initiatives taken during this exceptional period that we must, for those that have proven themselves, to perpetuate in order to always better identify and protect and support the victims, ”said Élisabeth Moreno in a statement from the ministry responsible for gender equality.
The platform thus had to deal with "a very significant wave of calls", according to the report. "From the end of March 2020 and particularly from mid-April, the number of calls received experienced a very strong increase, proof that the confinement had an effect on the revelations of acts of violence, ”he adds.
In the conclusions there is an interesting indicator. Calls from relatives (family, friends, colleagues, neighbors) increased from 24.9% in March to 31.3% in April.
"The associations see increased vigilance on the part of witnesses of violence, and the effectiveness of the communication campaigns carried out during the confinement."
116.006, a number intended for victims of criminal offenses, was also in high demand: an increase of 9% in requests compared to 2019. In addition, the site for reporting gender-based and sexual violence (PVSS), managed by trained police and gendarmes, was also used. There was a 4.4-fold increase in chatting during confinement and 17.1 in domestic violence.
This results in an increasing number of judgments during confinement. 2,900 acts of domestic violence have been recorded by the courts during confinement, and 430 have already been tried
To go even further in the liberalization of speech, the report recommends extending the opening hours of 3919 to seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and to “continue the development of the partnership between the security forces and hotlines (3919, 116006) so that emergency situations can be reported directly to 17 ”. As well as maintaining reporting in pharmacies, setting up hotlines in shopping centers, and developing the communication of the Ministry responsible for Equality between women and men via the Tiktok, Snapchat and WhatsApp applications to talk to younger generations.