INTERVIEW
On November 23, nearly 50,000 people marched through the streets of Paris at the call of the collective #NousToutes against violence against women. Two days later ended the Grenelle against violence against women, set up by the government. This Saturday evening in "We remake the news" on Europe 1, Wendy Bouchard Charlotte received, ex-wife beaten, victim of domestic violence and release of his ordeal 4 years ago.
Charlotte's ex-companion was beating and isolating her to better extend her grip on her. He has since been convicted. She turned to associations to try to rebuild herself, otherwise she would be "in a grave," she said coldly today. Charlotte lives in housing provided by an association for victims of domestic violence, while waiting to have her own home, when she has the strength.
"4 years later, I can not always see a doctor man"
She pays a rent to the association that houses it: "As soon as we have an income above 300 euros, we pay 10% of our income to the association, so we feel involved even if we do not gives only 50 or 60 euros sometimes, you really feel at home. " For her, it's a bargain compared to emergency shelters.
"In the accommodation centers, we can spend a night but the next day, we have to leave We want more security Just a room, already, for us, it's a palace! Some accommodation centers are mixed in more and we find ourselves mixed with alcoholics, drug addicts ... We do not feel safe We want non-mixed accommodation centers because we are afraid of men, we lived the horror. , four years after coming out of the ordeal, I can not always see a doctor man ".
At work today, Charlotte feels better about her relationship to men even if irreversible sequelae persist: "At work, yes, it goes well, I have no problem even if sometimes memories come back and so It's a bit more complicated, I have marks on my body, scars, and over time, I get used to it, but sometimes when I see them I start crying, it happens to me a lot. "
"We want real structures, not emergency shelters"
The Grenelle against domestic violence, a government initiative to provide concrete responses to the victims, ended on 25 November. Among the measures, the government announced for example 250 additional places for battered women in associations. For Charlotte, the announced measures are insufficient: "The government announces things that already existed in previous years, with almost the same budget, and they are not going to make other structures.We do not want centers of emergency shelter, we want real structures. "
In the same way, it calls for professionals concerned "to be trained" to deal with domestic violence. It does not take just "there is a training of an hour or two, it is more complicated than that". "If we do not leave, it's because we have no choice, we do not know where to go, the government did not take this into account," she explains.
Next goal for Charlotte, who is continuing her reconstruction: to get involved in an association to help women victims of domestic violence. "When I have my own home, I have spoken with an association to be part of the board of directors.