Frédéric Valletoux, the Minister for Health visiting Béziers hospital to discover the system to combat sexism

The Minister for Health was in Béziers to visit the hospital and share the implementation of an “exemplary” file to combat sexism and sexual violence in hospitals. He was expected by CGT demonstrators, but he avoided the meeting. J.-P A. – Midi Libre

The Minister for Health was in Béziers to visit the hospital and share the implementation of an “exemplary” file to combat sexism and sexual violence in hospitals. He was expected by CGT demonstrators, but he avoided the meeting. J.-P A. – Midi Libre

The Minister for Health was in Béziers to visit the hospital and share the implementation of an “exemplary” file to combat sexism and sexual violence in hospitals. He was expected by CGT demonstrators, but he avoided the meeting. J.-P A. – Midi Libre

Le ministre délégué à la Santé était à Béziers pour visiter l’hôpital et partager la mise en place d’un dossier “exemplaire” de lutte contre le sexisme et les violences sexuelles en milieu hospitalier. Il était attendu par des manifestants de la CGT, mais il a évité la rencontre. J.-P A. – Midi Libre

Frédéric Valletoux, the Minister for Health and Prevention was traveling to Béziers this Friday, May 3. He came to hear how hospital staff in Béziers have put in place an effective system to combat sexism and sexual violence in hospitals. He announced that he wanted to extend this model to all of France.

Activists from the CGT at the Béziers hospital were firmly awaiting the Minister for Health, Frédéric Valletoux. They did not have the opportunity to speak with him, he did not go through the main entrance as planned, but directly through the emergency room. There, he toured this service. Spoke with the managers of the Delphine service dedicated to women victims of domestic violence then participated in a round table where the managers of the Béziers hospital were able to explain the organization of the network ’ quot;Benevolent and benevolent" and also the implementation of the fight against sexism and violence against women within the establishment.

"The Béziers hospital is shown as an example"

"There is not only in the hospital, but throughout the health system in general, sexism and gender-based violence is a scourge, insisted Minister Valletoux. I knew and I wanted to see up close what we can do because the approach of the Béziers hospital is exemplary and often cited in other establishments in France. I encourage other establishments to go further than just legal obligations. Here, there is communication, very fine tracking to spot deviations. Here, even in the services, we are attentive. And then when dealing with sanctions, we also communicate and that’s good because the worst would be to do nothing. It’s transparent and it no longer leaves the impression that in the hospital, there is a culture of omerta."

Personnel sanctioned

In 2023, at Béziers hospital, 30 people were interviewed following ambiguous reports. This resulted in 2 staff dismissals and 7 temporary exclusions. Doctors have also been reported. The files were handled by management without giving rise to sanctions. To continue on this path of monitoring, 24 people, 2 doctors, 2 nurses and 10 social workers are in charge of the benevolence network. It was decided, within the walls of the hospital, to make sexism visible. And once a report is made, the entire service must follow awareness raising.

Work to resolve a major problem

Marie-Ange Gau, emergency doctor, says it very clearly: "Thinking about women's health means fighting against violence. We systematically ask when a woman arrives in our services if she is a victim of violence because this is one of the main causes of the risk factor for cardiac events. And this is just an example."

Sophie Barre, the human resources director explains: " Committing to equality means acting in the long term. We must fight, but not fight men to defend women. We looked at the lives of women in Béziers (70 % of the hospital staff). We surveyed 1,000 people. 20% tell us they have heard sexist remarks and 10% have suffered unwanted physical constraints. This is a major problem that we are in the process of resolving, even if we have to take very heavy sanctions."

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