Each year in France, 96,000 women are raped or attempted rape. Among them, one in five is at risk of developing psychotrauma, according to a report by the High Council for Equality published on Thursday.
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“It is not enough to collect the words of the victims and punish the perpetrators of violence, we must repair the women”. The president of the High Council for Equality (HCE) sets the tone in her report, delivered Thursday, July 6, to the Minister responsible for Equality between women and men. It draws up a mixed assessment of a promise made by Emmanuel Macron in 2017: the President of the Republic had undertaken to create specialized units in hospitals. These “regional centers of psychotrauma” must treat, free of charge, the psychological trauma of women victims of rape, attempted rape and domestic violence.
“It’s a great idea, but it didn’t have the means to develop properly.” explains Sylvie Pierre-Brossolette in her report. These centers “are not distributed throughout the territory and they are not targeted on the trauma of women victims of violence, which was the original objective”, she adds. Of the 100 establishments initially planned, ten are actually operational today. In addition, the teams working there are “too small” to support all victims – some of them can wait up to a year before accessing it.
The HCE therefore recommends the deployment of 300 centers to cover the entire French territory. Among the 96,000 women who are victims of rape or attempted rape each year, according to figures from the High Council, one in five is at risk of developing psychotrauma, the report points out. A trauma that should be taken care of in a way “quick and responsive”but a quarter of victims never benefit from it.