A child. (Illustration) - Rafael Ben Ari / Newscom / SIPA

A scary statement. “+ 89% is the increase in the number of calls to 119 last week. This was announced on Wednesday by the Secretary of State for Child Protection Adrien Taquet during the questioning of government questions in the Senate. For the week of April 13 to 19, the number of calls received was 14,531 compared to 7,674 over the same period in April 2019, an increase of 89.35%, it was specified at the end of the day in a press release from Adrien Taquet and the Ministers of Justice and the Interior. During normal periods, the 119, invisible on the telephone records, receives some 700 calls per day.

“This does not surprise us, it is a sign of the increase in violence during this period of confinement. But I also want to see in it the sign, the barometer, of our increased vigilance, ”commented the secretary of state.

A telephone line and allo119.gouv.fr

Calls by neighbors increased by 84% over the previous year, calls by young people themselves who were in danger by 80%, and calls by fellow workers worried about a friend 58%. The share of urgent calls, forwarded as a priority to the Concerning Information Collection Cells so that the departmental services can intervene quickly, also jumped by 60%.

In early April, to respond to the risks of domestic violence caused by confinement, the telephone line was doubled with an Internet reporting service (allo119.gouv.fr). This device, intended for victims who cannot isolate themselves to call for help, collects more than 200 referrals every week, said Adrien Taquet.

92 children placed in emergency

Before the Senate, he said he had "seized all the departments" so that the staff of the cells for collecting worrying information were reinforced and so that social workers could carry out investigations in families where children were in danger.

Since March 16, interventions by the police or gendarmerie at home for various families have increased by 48%, and nearly 92 children have been placed in emergency, specify in the press release Nicole Belloubet and Christophe Castaner.

Each year in France, it is estimated that a child dies every five days as a result of family violence and some 52,000 minors are subjected to violence, ill-treatment or abandonment.

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  • Child protection
  • Covid 19
  • Child
  • Violence
  • Society
  • Containment
  • Coronavirus