Ernestine Ronai is head of the “Observatory of violence against women” in Bobigny. You put a cell phone on the table. It looks somewhat old fashioned, but has an additional button in orange.
“This is an emergency cell phone for women at great risk. The phone will be awarded by the public prosecutor. The partners of these women have been classified as dangerous and often already sentenced. It is forbidden to approach their wives to them. Often, the men are also mentally ill. Is the death or at least extreme violence threatening their wives.”
The endangered woman, a touch on the orange button immediately connects the emergency of insurance. There, trained staff that receives emergency calls even from old, sick or disabled people awake around the clock. Philippe Paris by insurance company “Allianz Global assistance” explains the system.
“When a call comes in, all important information about the caller appear on our screen. Our professionals know who it is, where the woman lives, works and buys so, where the kids to school, go speak to the caller personally: good day Mrs so-and-so, are you in danger? If so, ask them where the caller is exactly, and alert the police immediately.”
Also at the Bobigny police headquarters a phone solely for vulnerable women is reserved. In the year 2011, 122 women have been murdered in France by their partners or husbands, in the previous year, even 146 women were victims of such crimes. Through the mobile phone, says Philippe Paris at least some murders are prevented.
“There was very clear cases: so a woman has alerted us, whose men stood with an axe in the garden.” Another woman called us, as her husband to establish himself with an axe at the front door. We have advised you to lock yourself in the bathroom and they calmed down, while the police were on their way. A woman alerted us when she was forcibly kidnapped by her ex-husband, he had hid a knife in the sleeve.”
In all these cases the police could intervene in time.
The “Observatory of violence against women” constantly seeks ways and means to improve the situation of women. Ernestine Ronai had discovered the emergency phone in Spain, where it had been introduced already in 2004. Renai could convince in their Department of Justice and police, to venture the experiment. In the past three years, the Prosecutor’s Office there has issued an emergency phone 92 women.
“When a woman gets this phone, she says often: the judiciary finally acknowledges that I am a victim.” At the same time, it is aware of her in what danger it is. She gets the phone for maximum one year. But the device alone it doesn’t when: at the same time the Club helps her SOS women to end the separation from her partner, perhaps to move, to find a new job. She accompanied so comprehensively. Taking the mobile phone with the emergency button in the hand, she takes her life again in the hand.”
Ernestine Ronai emphasizes that it is the system not only technology and logistics: the emergency phone to change the ways of thinking. Justice, police, clubs, social workers – everyone will clearly, in which danger is the pursued woman
am and that they only could succeed to permanently eliminate the risk. And one more thing is very important to her: the fate of children.
“By protecting the mother, to protect the children. The 92 women have received an emergency mobile phone with us, had a total of 148 children. Also that’s why it is so tremendously important that we help the women, the environment where violence is threatening them to leave as soon as possible.”
The emergency phone is now also in Alsace and Paris in use. The French Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem wants to introduce it nationwide now.
Image courtesy of cuatrok77