2023-07-27 23:44:36
Stop trivializing sexual assault. This is the objective of the associations present at the Bayonne Festival. For two years, the PAF collective, which campaigns for “feminist parenthood” has offered a “protocol” to bars and local associations, including training for their staff and volunteers.
In 2022, two men aged 25 and 19 were indicted for the rape of a 27-year-old woman during the holidays. In 2019, three sexual assaults were the subject of legal proceedings, one of which resulted in a man being sentenced to a two-year suspended prison sentence. In 2017, a man was sentenced to eight years in prison for a rape committed during the 2014 edition.
Understand situations
On the Roland-Barthes esplanade, near the city’s university site and in the heart of one of the festive districts, around forty volunteers take turns under a large white barnum. Since 2017, a permanent service has been provided there from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. to welcome any victims of violence and take care of them.
Awareness campaigns are also carried out in the crowd. “The work to be done in society is immeasurable when we hear 20-year-old girls tell us that they feel insecure,” breathes Andrée Diarte, volunteer and social worker.
At the same time, a “Safe Toki” or “secure place” label identifies bars and local associations that undertake to welcome anyone in difficulty and provide them with useful numbers and contacts, or redirect them to advanced medical posts. A poster campaign in the streets of the city completes the system.
3,500 people “affected” in five days by sexual assault
In 2022, 3,500 people were thus “affected” in five days by these actions. “The word has been released and the victims need a place-resource which welcomes them without judgement”, comments Déborah Loupien-Suares, elected municipal official in charge of the fight against discrimination. For the first time this year, the reception in this place will be until 04:30 in the morning, thanks to the involvement of a new association, Itaia.
Laura, 44, provided the first watch. “Being there in the evening is essential, I volunteered right away,” she says. A telephone number has been made available for any reports. During the night, the activists received three people for verbal and physical attacks. »
Thursday morning, after a first night of celebration, the Pyrénées-Atlantiques prefecture reported a suspicion of sexual assault, “not yet clearly established”. During the Festivals of Mont-de-Marsan, completed a week before those of Bayonne, two suspicions of rape and sexual assault were reported by the prosecution.
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