Faced with the multiplication of cases of domestic violence and feminicides, municipalities located outside major centers want to make their offices a gateway for victims of domestic violence. The Municipalities committed against domestic violence movement, which will be officially launched next Monday, has already aroused the interest of 25 municipalities and hopes to inspire others in all regions of Quebec.
“In small municipalities, help is not always readily available. And moving to a neighboring town where assistance and intervention services are centralized can be difficult for a woman who lives with a controlling and violent spouse, ”explains the director general of Saint-Barnabé-Sud, in Montérégie, Linda Normandeau, who started the movement.
With less than 800 inhabitants, Saint-Barnabé-Sud has no shelter where a victim can go to ask for help. The closest is in Saint-Hyacinthe, about 15 minutes away. The municipal office, housed in a former credit union, has become the gateway.
“It’s accessible and it should be easy for a victim to come forward under the pretext of asking for information or a copy of a tax account”, illustrates Mme Normandeau.
Other municipalities are following suit
In July 2021, the city council adopted a resolution to give this office “the status of a safe place where any person who is a victim of domestic violence can take refuge during opening hours” and allow employees to take training to ” know how to react if a person asks for help”.
Since then, 12 other municipalities in the MRC des Maskoutains and five in the MRC de Drummond have joined the movement. Seven other municipalities have also expressed a desire to get involved, including Nicolet, in Centre-du-Québec, which announced its own project in September, with city hall and a library as gateways.
“When people decide to make things happen within their community and it resonates, it touches me a lot,” enthuses actress, author and host Ingrid Falaise, who will be honorary president at the launch of the movement on November 21.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
The Municipalities committed against domestic violence movement will be launched on November 21 under the honorary presidency of actress, author and host Ingrid Falaise.
“One of the characteristics of domestic violence is isolation, and when you are in the back row, you are even more isolated,” testifies Mme Falaise, who traveled across Quebec with his conference I chose myself. “There is also the reality of immigrant women who do not speak French and live in remote places where there are few resources. Violence can be increased because there is no safety net. »
Not speakers
The six office workers from Saint-Barnabé-Sud took training given by a worker from the La Clé sur la Porte shelter in Saint-Hyacinthe and an officer from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
“In no case will employees become stakeholders,” said Ms.me Normandeau. Their role is rather to “welcome and secure the person” and put them in contact with a real worker, from the shelter or the SQ, as the case may be.
“It’s one more tool in our personal trunk, just like taking training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or first aid”, illustrates Francis Grégoire, municipal inspector in Saint-Barnabé-Sud and volunteer firefighter at the municipality. neighbor of Saint-Jude.
The training made him aware of the mechanisms of psychological and verbal violence.
We understand why a man or a woman sometimes returns three or four or five times before getting out of it. And that sometimes they don’t make it, we have had flagrant cases since the beginning of the year.
Francis Grégoire, municipal inspector in Saint-Barnabé-Sud and volunteer firefighter in the neighboring municipality of Saint-Jude
He recommends that municipal employees “not hesitate to follow [une telle] training, to be able to recognize the signs”.
In particular, municipal employees will listen to citizens who will take the pamphlet on domestic violence offered at the reception desk. “Maybe that’s all the help she’ll accept this time and next time it’ll be a little more.” »
In Saint-Barnabé-Sud as in Saint-Jude, the person can be taken to a room that is not visible from the outside where they can talk and telephone without being worried.
“If she tells us: “I am in danger, I am being prosecuted”, it will be the SQ automatically: we will not take chances for our safety either”, indicates Mr. Grégoire.
Mme Normandeau hopes to see projects develop “in all regions of Quebec” and invites municipalities to adapt their intervention to their reality.
“A municipality may not have the necessary premises or staff, but publish articles and awareness in their municipal newspaper every month. There are several ways to intervene in matters of conjugal violence and to commit to countering it. »
NEED HELP ?
If you are a victim of domestic violence and are looking for help and respite, contact SOS violence conjugale at 1 800 363-9010. Responders are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Learn more
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- 21
- Number of people who died in the context of domestic violence or post-separation violence in 2022
Source: SOS domestic violence