The 19-year-old woman, a student at Paris-Dauphine University, had not given any sign of life since Friday afternoon. An investigation for “voluntary homicide” has been opened.
She was last seen on Friday, September 20, at 2 p.m., in a university restaurant. Philippine, a 19-year-old economics student, was found dead on Saturday in the Bois de Boulogne, located in the west of Paris, near Paris-Dauphine University where she was enrolled. Her body was found buried during a search and was identified “formally”France Télévisions learned from the Paris prosecutor’s office. An investigation for “voluntary homicide” has been opened.
Philippine was due to go to her parents’ house in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on Friday afternoon. The student’s sister reported her missing to the police that same evening. On Saturday afternoon, around fifty relatives scoured the Bois de Boulogne looking for her, after geolocating her mobile phone, according to a source close to the investigation. They quickly organised themselves and posted wanted notices everywhere. And especially on the internet. The Sorority app, “mutual aid community”claims to have broadcast “a search notice following her worrying disappearance to support her loved ones and try to find her as quickly as possible”.
In a message published Monday, The Sorority specifies that the young woman does not “was not part of [la] community” and that“no alert had been issued.” Because this free application, created in 2020 for the “women and people from gender minorities”allows in particular “for those who feel unsafe to alert the 50 closest people using the phone’s GPS position”.
In concrete terms, all registered women receive a notification on their smartphone when they are in the area where the alert is triggered. “They can either call the person asking for help directly, or send them a message suggesting that they call the police or the gendarmerie, or meet them on site, pretending to know them, and without ever putting themselves in danger.”says Priscillia Routier-Trillard, founder of The Sorority.
“We help people on the street, in transport, at the office, at school, in the evening, at festivals or at home.”
Priscillia Routier-Trillard, founder of The Sororityto franceinfo
In March, a user told AFP that she had used the app after being followed in the street. “As soon as I pressed the alert button, I received about ten text messages and calls. Finally, a member joined me and drove me home.”describes the 18-year-old woman, also interviewed by AFP. Sometimes, simply talking can defuse the situation, according to testimonies posted online on social networks by the application’s managers.
Registration is possible from the age of 12, with parental consent. However, 73% of users are between 18 and 35 years old and the average age of The Sorority members is 30, according to its latest activity report. Profiles are validated: it is required to take a selfie in real time and provide an identity document to join the community. Currently, The Sorority has 115,000 users, according to its founder. “In Paris, there are 17,000 of us, so the people available are just a street away.”underlines Priscillia Routier-Trillard. But the establishment of the community in rural areas is increasing, according to this same source, allowing “Securing the streets with significant speed of action”.
The application is also available to French people abroad, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Thousands of kilometers from our loved ones, we are completely dependent on the violent person, who can also be an employer”explains Priscillia Routier-Trillard. Our app is available worldwide and translated into 13 languages. Even local people can use it.”
Since March 8, International Women’s Day, The Sorority has partnered with law enforcement. The app’s website describes it as a “recognized and labeled device”whose objective is to “raising awareness among police officers and gendarmes about our tool through training”explains Priscillia Routier-Trillard. “When a person in a situation of domestic violence cannot contact the authorities directly, they raise the alert on the application. If they agree, we transmit all the information to 17 for immediate intervention.”she continues.
“To ensure the effectiveness of the system with The Sorority, we have made our staff aware of the need for immediate intervention”confirms Commissioner Charlotte Huntz, national police representative for the fight against domestic violence. Visuals on the application will be displayed in all police stations.
“The idea is to use sensors from civil society to combat violence against women and to act jointly with the voluntary sector.”
Charlotte Huntz, Police Commissionerto franceinfo
The Sorority isn’t the only app of its kind to partner with law enforcement. Umay, for example, lists “safe places” since its creation in 2019: 3,200 gendarmeries, 600 police stations, but also 6,000 other establishments, such as bars, restaurants, shops and institutions, where people feeling threatened, men and women, can take refuge. This free application also collaborates with the police. It was developed, during the Paris 2024 Games, through a partnership with the Française des Jeux to train and label as “safe place” a maximum of bars, tobacco shops and newsagents, as well as by organizing training courses “to the management of situations of aggression and in particular sexist and sexual violence”.