No one answers the telephone line set up by the Ministry of Education for anyone wishing to report a situation of sexual violence in a school. Instead of a sympathetic ear, a young victim who takes his courage in both hands to denounce his attacker is entitled to the warmth of a voicemail. Instead of the promised and expected confidentiality, he is asked to leave his name and telephone number. After the beep, tell us about your assault… We’ll call you back!
I was amazed when I read the article by my colleague Marie-Eve Morasse on the 1 833 DENONCE line announced with great fanfare by the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, who said he was concerned about the multiplication of reported cases of sexual violence. in the education network.
In addition to launching a “general scope” investigation (whose real scope is still unclear) announced on March 21, the minister said he wanted to set up such a line because it was important for student victims of sexual violence to be able to report these situations confidentially and securely. “The health and safety of students and school staff are my priorities and I will not compromise on that,” he said.
No compromise, except perhaps that of rigor which requires minimal consultation with those who work to prevent and fight against sexual violence and who could perhaps have given two or three relevant pieces of advice before launching a 1 833 line. ANYTHING.
From its launch, the 1 833 DENONCE line was already criticized by students and workers. “That’s not at all what we asked for,” lamented in an interview with Radio-Canada Alexandra Dupuy, co-coordinator of the collective La voix des jeunes compte, a group of students who, in the wake of # me too, has been denouncing for more than five years the inadequate protocols and the lack of appropriate resources to fight against sexual violence in schools1.
If any additional resource is welcome, it is still necessary that it does not duplicate what already exists, warned for her part Monique Villeneuve, director general of the Center for prevention and intervention for victims of aggression. sex, in this same report broadcast on April 12.
In the face of these criticisms, the Ministry of Education could have immediately corrected the situation to ensure that its strategy, however well intentioned it may be, does not miss its target. But no…
After reading Marie-Eve Morasse’s article, I said to myself that first thing Friday, Minister Drainville was going to seize this second chance to rectify the situation by ensuring that there was less a human being than a voicemail on the phone. But no… When I called 1 833 DENONCE on Friday, there was still no one there.
I sent a text message to the minister’s press secretary to find out what follow-up he was going to give to what was reported by my colleague. I got the same answer as when I wanted to ask Mr. Drainville about run-down schools last month, suddenly not so run-down2 : no answer.
To my colleague Marie-Eve, the press officer replied that the minister considers it “unacceptable” that the telephone line systematically sends people to a voicemail3. “Fixes will be made. »
It remains to be hoped that these corrections will not be made in a vacuum, but by taking into account the expertise of organizations specializing in the fight against sexual violence and intervention with young people.
“It’s really sad not to take victims more into consideration and to offer such a simplistic answer to such a complex social problem,” the director of the Center for Prevention and Intervention for Victims of Sexual Assault tells me. .
If Minister Drainville had taken the trouble to consult her, Ms.me Villeneuve would have told him right away what many parents already know: young people don’t call, they text.
“I am a mother and a grandmother. My grandchildren don’t call me! They’re texting me! »
If a teenager doesn’t even call his grandmother, the likelihood of him calling an impersonal Ministry of Education voicemail to report an assault is, how can I put it…rather low.
At the Center for Prevention and Intervention for Victims of Sexual Assault, we have adapted accordingly. “Since the fall, we’ve had a cell phone. Our youth worker receives text messages from teenagers. At Tel-jeunes, they understood this a long time ago. There are 24/7 lines that haven’t rung for years! The phone line still works. But we switched to texting and chatting a long time ago because the teenagers are elsewhere. »
As long as you invest in resources, let’s choose the right ones, pleads Mme Villeneuve. Instead of investing in a telephone line when there are already 24/7 lines, we could, for example, make sure to have enough workers in the field. “Just in the territory of Laval served by our organization, I don’t have enough staff to cover all the schools.
“I wish he would call me Mr. Drainville. I have plenty to tell him. »
By phone or text, it doesn’t matter. As long as she doesn’t get a voicemail.