The Mende gendarmerie family protection center mobilized against domestic violence

Julie Mantez, the social worker, alongside warrant officers Neveu, Orts, Oudart and Chaluleau, who make up the Family Protection House. Midi Libre – Célian Guignard

This Tuesday, February 27, 2024, the new unit, installed within the Pradeilles barracks, in Mende, was officially inaugurated. The opportunity, in particular, to look back on 2023, its first year of full operation.

They are one of the measures decided at the end of the Grenelle on domestic violence, which was held from September 3 to November 25, 2019. The Maisons de Protection of Families (MPF), replacing the Brigades for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (BPDJ), have since been deployed throughout the national territory. In Lozère, the MPF has been installed ;nbsp;in Mende in August 2022, in the Pradeilles barracks of the gendarmerie, before being put into service on October 1 of that same year. It was officially inaugurated this Tuesday, February 27, 2024, in the presence of administrative and judicial authorities.

The plaque for the Family Protection House was unveiled this Tuesday, February 27. Midi Libre – Célian Guignard

Prevent, protect, support, coordinate

First equipped with a single soldier when it was launched, Warrant Officer William Orts, the commander of the unit, who previously officiated in Châteauneuf-de-Randon, it's ;nbsp;now welcomes three other officers, warrant officers Stephan Oudart and Gaëlle Neveu, formerly of the Chanac brigade, as well as Coralie Chaluleau, who left the Florac-Trois-Rivières brigade. Together, they have three missions: prevent, protect, support, coordinate. She remains under the orders of Colonel Michel, at the head of the Lozère gendarmerie group, and under the supervision of Captain Frédéric Boets, assistant officer in charge of the judicial police (OAPJ), supported by  nbsp;Captain Cédric Chambert, deputy officer in charge of prevention and partnerships. 

According to figures from the Lozère prefecture, domestic violence (VIF) increased by 8.39% between 2019 (155 incidents) and 2023 (168 incidents). "The goal of the Family Protection Center is to free speech, to let nothing slip through and to protect victims, stated Colonel Cédric Michel. It allows the networking of different partners  (National Education, National Police, Information Center for the Rights of Women and Families, the Departmental Directorate of ;rsquo;employment, work, solidarity and protection of populations, France Victime, the Departmental Union of Family Associations, the Outstretched Hand, the Traverse…).&amp ;quot; 

98 hearings of minors in 2023

For its first year of full operation, the MPF carried out and transcribed 98 hearings of minors: 27 for acts within the family, 65 for sexual offenses, 27 for violence, six for various offenses such as harassment. It provided assistance to local brigades by taking charge of four procedures and supporting 16 investigations. She reported 19 social situations to the social worker at the police station and the gendarmerie, arriving in August 2023, as well as two other cases to partner associations .

Three of the four soldiers who work within the Family Protection Center are trained in collecting the words of the minor victim. Two are minor hearing relay trainers. Two are experts in the mechanisms of domestic violence. One is an anti-drug relay trainer. One is aware of hearings of minors. They all ensure the continuing training of their colleagues in VIF matters in the different units. "70% have already been trained, details Warrant Officer William Orts. The objective, it's that they all will be by the end of 2024."

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