In the villages of the North, a violentometer circulates to measure intra-family violence

A violent meter was given to the teams of the blue truck of Avesnois, in Etroeungt. Designed four years ago in Paris for teenage girls and young women, this violence measurement index is aimed at everyone, women and men, regardless of their age.

The Nord department has therefore deployed this violence meter with a graduated rule of healthy or dangerous behavior that a partner can have. There are 23 quick questions to measure the degree of violence. The closer the questions get to red, the greater the danger.

Too often in denial, victims can, thanks to this new tool, become more easily aware of the degree of violence they suffer, as shown in this testimony: “It’s crazy, with hindsight we say to ourselves that it is not possible to have accepted such things.”

Once awareness is raised, solutions are then found to shelter women and their children.

The North Department has launched a series of measures to help the victims. Because domestic violence is not only in large cities, the public authorities have decided to tackle this scourge head on. Five blue trucks criss-cross the rural communes, where the highest rates of intra-family violence are concentrated.

Among the measures, we find the deployment of eighteen additional social workers in police stations and gendarmerie stations, the creation of a partnership with the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service of the North, additional funding for specialized associations and the experimental payment of an emergency RSA to victims in Valenciennes.

In 2020, the North was the second department most affected by domestic violence.