Left for dead in the hallway of her building, Valérie tells us about the day when her life changed. A year after being beaten with extreme violence by her ex-partner, she rebuilt herself with an association that helps women. Testimony.
The Women’s House is inaugurated this Friday, November 17, 2023 in Rennes. This unique place in the Great West will welcome women in distress and their children by providing them with medical care, legal and social support. To mark its opening, we are republishing the poignant testimony of Valérie*, a former victim of domestic violence.
In her small apartment, on the ground floor near Rennes, Valérie* has some pieces of pound cake and is looking for her coffee filters. She does not yet have all her automatisms in this new home. It has only been two days since this woman in her fifties took possession of this studio, synonymous with rebirth.
One year ago today, after a particularly violent attack by her ex-partner, she was taken to intensive care at Rennes hospital. “It’s incredible to see her here, at home, knowing what she went through” murmurs Muriel, social worker at Asfad in Rennes. She is sitting on the new sofa alongside Léa, the specialist educator from the activist association for the protection of women, who accompanied Valérie for a year.
I had never seen anyone in such a state. I never want to see that again.
Léa Pautrieux, specialized educator at Asfad in Rennes
The two social workers came to finalize Valérie’s release from their emergency accommodation structure for women victims of violence. For a year, Valérie received daily support to help her regain the autonomy shattered by an ultra-violent partner. “I have never seen someone arrive in such a state, I still get chills” Léa Pautrieux modestly testifies, while Valérie serves coffee to her first guests. The social worker hopes she never sees this again.
“I am happy to welcome you, you were my favorite” laughs Valérie, walking slowly. A year after the tragedy, she still has after-effects. The educators remember his arrival in their department after two days in intensive care. “His body was still completely swollen. She was naked under her hospital gown. She still had blood in her hair. No business, nothing” breathes Léa, who still has the impression of seeing a scene from a disaster film when she thinks back to the scene.
“I remember that it was the hospital social worker who called us to find out if we had a place to accommodate him” remembers Muriel. “ She was retiring and asked us for one last gesture before leaving.” Fortunately, a place is available.
“ I arrived by taxi and couldn’t buy new clothes” Valérie apologizes again. “ I had to find something to dress you in disaster smiles Léa. You made me laugh when you told me you were in carnival attire. You were already mentally strong.”
After providing her with the minimum subsistence level, the educator’s first action was to contact a lawyer specializing in violence against women.
READ: 1,000 bras donated to boost self-esteem and help women in need
Her face and her entire body were purple, the court had to see her to realize the violence.
Me Audrey Ferron, lawyer
The day after her arrival at the Asfad premises in Rennes, the educator had to take her to her future lawyer to attend the hearing, facing her attacker. “I was so scared to see him” Valérie trembles, while this chapter of her life is over.
“His face and whole body were purple. From the photos I thought she was a woman of color. It was not possible to understand that her skin was white” assures Me Ferron, Valérie’s lawyer.
“It was essential that the jurisdiction see it, that they realize the violence” supports Me Ferron who insisted that the judges be able to understand the state in which her attacker had left her.
“His face was so disfigured that even the prosecutor had never seen it” recalls Léa Pautrieux, present alongside Valérie at the hearing.
Seeing this woman in her fifties, smiling, made-up, well dressed, it’s hard to imagine what she’s been through. The ultra-violence of the man who had beaten her had required the use of the services of the Rennes RAID to allow his arrest.
The police did not understand how I could still be alive.
Valérie, victim of the beatings of her ex-companion
On the day of the tragedy, Valérie managed to get this companion out of her home that she wanted to get rid of. “He came back a few hours later. He broke down the door to my house and attacked me e . I don’t know how I got out of it.”
“The police officers who found me e on the ground in the corridors of my building did not understand how I could still be alive” admits the miracle.
In his memories, images come back. The strangulation, the stabbing, the bottle hitting, the kicking. Finally, the man decides to leave her for dead.
For this act of cruelty, the repeat offender was sentenced to 5 years in prison. “He has 4 left” underlines Valérie who dreads the moment of her exit.
She will never set foot on the scene of the attack again. If Valérie is so bright and dignified today in her new home, “it is due to his courage and his decisions” confides his lawyer Audrey Ferron. Léa and Muriel, who managed to get her the studio and restore her self-confidence, agree with the lawyer’s opinion.
“As soon as she arrived at Asfad, Madame knew how to make choices to rebuild her life” Léa expresses with certainty. If Valérie does not seem to perceive the importance of her decisions, Léa measures the path traveled by the woman she accompanied.
“She managed to get out of his grip. Not to respond to these requests or those of those around you”. In the secure structure of Asfad in Rennes, women who have suffered violence are accompanied, monitored and supported on a legal, administrative and psychological level. Time is not limited, the only thing that matters for the team of social workers is this goal: to allow women to regain their place in society.
Valérie no longer needs the close support of the reassuring team of the activist association. Today she is confident and for her, that’s all that matters because “in a while, I know one who will come out” she whispers.
Valérie knows that she can count on the women who have crossed her path to be there at any time. Léa and Muriel de l’Asfad, moved to see Valérie in her new world, hope to never experience such a situation again in their careers.
The most significant case in terms of violence that my office has followed.
Me Audrey Ferron, lawyer
The lawyer assures that she will not forget this meeting which was “the most significant case in terms of violence” that his specialized office had to follow.
Acts of violence by men against women are daily occurrences. Maître Ferron slips away, she is on duty at the Rennes court for other hearings, other women attacked by other violent men.
Behind the words “women victims of violence” hides a cold, inhuman reality, which leaves women in deep trauma. In Rennes, some are lucky to find the support of a network of professionals who fight to help them. In November 2023, a unique place in the Great West will offer medical, legal and social support to women victims of violence and their children, its name: the Women’s House.
* first name changed