‘You did the right thing by calling us’

“I recommend, as a first step, that you go on this chat [platform] – it’s run by trained volunteer police officers and gendarmes who will answer your questions. They’ll help you through the process and tell you which police station to go to,” explained Cécile (her name has been changed at her request), her voice calm. On the phone, an incest victim was speaking to her: She had decided to file a complaint, several years after the acts that her father had committed. She wrote down the details of the victim support platform that Cécile, a helpline worker for Rapes Women Information (free helpline 0800-05-95-95), had just provided.

Cécile continued: “When you will be heard, there may be questions that seem to challenge your story, and you should be prepared for that. At the end of the hearing, you’ll feel tired, but it’s really important to carefully read over the report, to make sure it accurately reflects what you’ve said.”

A few more sentences and the call, which lasted 45 minutes, came to an end. Cécile concluded in her reassuring voice: “Take a moment to reward yourself for making the call – what you just did is not nothing.” After hanging up, she, too, allowed herself a brief pause, and took some deep breaths. “She moved me,” said the young woman. “She shared many details, she said many things. I’m going to take a little break,” she added, as she stepped away from her desk.

Around her, in a bright room lit by large windows, four other employees of the helpline were seated in front of their screens, on this Wednesday in November. Each had a large spiral notebook in front of them, to record what was said on the other end of the line. Some were on calls, others were transcribing their notes on computers or filling in a standardized grid, which gives a quick overview of each caller’s situation: The date of the call, the facts, the context and details of medical or police procedures.

‘The aggressors’ fault’

From Monday to Saturday, 10:00 am to 7:00 pm, around 15 professionals work shifts to staff the helpline’s premises, in Paris‘ 13^th arrondissement. Since its launch on March 8, 1986, the free helpline has received 80,000 “first calls,” not counting the frequent call-backs. The ritual is unchanging: The operator answers the phone by saying “Rapes Women Information, hello.” Saying the word rape right away – “the hardest word to say” – “sends the message that here, it’s okay to say it, and we can hear about serious violence,” explained Sophie Lascombes, project manager at the Feminist Collective Against Rape (CFCV), the organization that created and has run the helpline since its inception. From one office to the next, the same phrases often ring out: “You did the right thing by calling us.” “You’ve come to the right place.” “What you’ve told me is rape, and it’s punishable by law.” “Rape is the aggressors’ fault, not the victims’.”

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