“In 2022, there will be 2,500 interventions on activation of the Serious Danger Telephone. So many tragedies avoided and women saved! “. In a post published on social networks Wednesday evening, Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti congratulated the BAC police officers for their intervention in Noisy-le-Grand, in Seine-Saint-Denis. A man was killed on the spot after an exchange of fire with the police, alerted by the triggering of a “serious danger telephone”.
But what is this “serious danger telephone”, which “prevented a feminicide at risk? [des] lives [des policiers] », to use the words of Linda Kebbab, national secretary of the SGP Police Unit? How does it work ? Who can benefit ? 20 minutes make the point.
What is “serious phone danger?” »
THE ” phone serious danger » (TGD) is a system put in place by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Women’s Rights to protect victims of domestic violence or rape.
First tested in 2009 in Seine-Saint-Denis and Strasbourg, the “serious danger telephone” was introduced into the law of August 4, 2014 and generalized to the rest of France
OUR FILE ON FEMINICIDES
How does “TGD” work?
This telephone includes an emergency call button, a sort of “shortcut” key, which allows you to reach a direct remote assistance line 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The operator assesses the situation and quickly requests the intervention of law enforcement through a dedicated channel. This call, considered an absolute emergency, then takes precedence over all other requests from 17. The mobile device is also geolocated to allow faster intervention by law enforcement. Requested by 20 minutesthe Ministry of Justice ensures that “each alarm triggers an intervention by the police”.
Beneficiaries can trigger this alert button at any time when they feel in danger. According to a France Info report dating from 2020, this trigger gives victims the assurance of being “rescued” in less than seven minutes.
Who can benefit from the system?
According to the website of the Ministry of Justice, “in the event of serious danger threatening a victim of domestic violence or rape”, the public prosecutor can assign them a “safe telephone”, for a period of six months renewable.
“The serious danger telephone includes comprehensive support with psychological, social and legal care for the victim,” specifies the ministry. The law of December 28, 2019 aimed at taking action against violence within the family also broadened the conditions for granting a serious danger telephone (TGD): it can be assigned to a victim “if the perpetrator of the violence is on the run or when a request for a protection order is pending before the family court judge.
How many devices are assigned and available today in France?
According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice, 5,500 “serious danger telephones” are deployed in jurisdictions to date, compared to 4,880 in 2022 and 976 in 2020. “All jurisdictions are equipped in sufficient numbers to enable them to allocate them as soon as possible. that the prosecutor has made a decision to this effect,” specifies the ministry.
In 2022, 3,556 “TGDs” were awarded to victims. It was 727 in 2020, and 300 in 2019. Still according to the ministry, 2,455 alarms were triggered by people benefiting from such a device in 2022, compared to 1,185 in 2020.
In 2023, 134 feminicides took place in France, according to the association All of us, which takes into account murders within and outside the couple. “In 72% of cases, it is marital feminicide,” the collective clarified in a post published on X at the end of the year. And “in 74% of cases, it took place at home”.