“Patients who are victims of violence who want to make it known that they are victims know how to do it”, said Wednesday May 25 on franceinfo Gilles Lazimi, general practitioner, associate professor of general medicine at Sorbonne-University and associative activist member of SOS Women 93 and the Feminist Collective against Rape, after a woman victim of violence in Illkirch ( Bas-Rhin) was able to alert her pharmacist while she was with her companion. The young woman and her companion presented themselves in a pharmacy in Illkirch, as reported by France Bleu Alsace. In the prescription she presented, she had slipped a word: “SOS”. The pharmacist then managed to notify the police, who went to the scene and arrested the companion.
Gilles Lazimi salutes the “vigilance” of the pharmacy staff. He recalls that pharmacies have been “sensitized since the first confinement in 2020”. In these places “confidential, women can talk” and it must be known, insists the doctor.
franceinfo: the professionalism and responsiveness of the staff of this pharmacy is to be welcomed?
Gilles Lazimi: This staff was very vigilant, they knew how to see and they knew how to do. It’s really something that really needs to be highlighted. Pharmacies, since 2020 and the first confinement, had been made aware. There was a reflex sheet that had been sent to them with flyers and posters by the Pharmacist Training Center, to raise their awareness. During confinement, women could not speak, they could not go out. The only place they could go was the doctor or the pharmacist. And the pharmacy was the most appropriate place. So we had to help the pharmacists to detect the signs. There, the patient showed her ability to make things known. But patients who are victims of violence who want to make it known that they are victims know how to do it. We know how to spot them. And when they cannot do so, they can, for example, ask for a 39 19 mask, referring to the domestic violence call number, or a drug that does not exist. Or they can also ask for compression stockings that will isolate them to take the size of the calf. And so the pharmacist will be able to question them, listen to them and respect their requests. And in case of danger, call the police. We don’t have figures that show how many women spoke to their pharmacist. But it is really important for women to know that these professionals, like other health professionals, are fully entitled to help them and to report for them when they cannot do so, and to protect them.
Is it necessary to generalize still more, more this device? And are there special training courses for pharmacists?
There are workshops with the SESA Pharma (Pharmacy Health Service), which is the training institute, which have been carried out and which make it possible to raise the awareness of pharmacy professionals. There are training courses that are set up with associations, doctors, pharmacists. It is very important to be multi-professional and multi-associative.
“We must continue to inform and raise awareness and ensure that the more we know that these places are confidential places of safety where women can talk, the more women will talk about it.”
Gilles Lazimi, general practitionerat franceinfo
Is it easier for female victims of violence to first go through a pharmacy than to go directly to the police?
The first interlocutors for women victims of violence are first and foremost the doctors. Pharmacists are still places of proximity. They know the women, they know the families. It’s easier to go buy a drug product, a prescription. So it’s really a recognized place. And pharmacists need to be trained and made aware. And when they are sensitized and trained, there is no problem. They will be able to welcome these women when they display in their pharmacy where there is 39 19, where there are posters “we can help you”. They know that, in this place, they will be able to speak in complete confidentiality. And do not hesitate to ask to be isolated. Pharmacists now know to isolate these patients. When a woman is a victim of violence and she cannot talk about the violence spontaneously, she shows it in different ways. She shows it by taking a lot of medication. She shows it by coming very often. As soon as the professional is made aware, he will be able to question her, help her and accompany her. And we must always respect the wishes of women who are victims of violence and wait for them to be the ones who ask to be reported to the police. And authorized pharmacists, like all professionals.