I discovered today that France has a new emergency number, 3919, which came into force on 14 March this year for victims of domestic violence. It's available throughout the country, and though not a 24 hour service, it operates most of the day. The people who answer the calls are all specialists of various sorts and can take calls not only in French but in Arabic, English and Spanish.
They are however assuming that all victims of domestic violence are women so the "listeners" are exclusively female. I can't help feeling they are missing a point here (according to the Home Office 1 in 6 men will be a victim at some point compared with 1 in 4 women) but, at the same time, I believe it to be better than anything available in the UK. I don't know if this sort of service exists elsewhere but if it does, I certainly haven't heard of it.
We call it "Krisetelefonen" and it has excisted for years. Here as well, it's mainly for women.
ReplyDeleteThank you Tor. Here in the UK I suppose you'd have to use the Samaritans or, if it were an emergency, 999.
ReplyDelete