2024 Olympic Games: “Domestic violence will only increase tenfold”

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are the most anticipated sporting event of the year. With a cumulative 15 million visitors, and 100,000 spectators expected from the opening ceremony on July 26, this international competition is also the open door to an increase in sexist and sexual violence. Fortunately, there is a system to stem this violence.

In 2019, Priscillia Routier-Trillard created The Sorority, a support community that helps ensure the safety of women and gender minorities anytime and anywhere, in public or private spaces. Thanks to a means of geolocation and an alert system, The Sorority application, completely free and secure, allows people who are victims of domestic or intra-family violence, attacks or even harassment, to find help around them, and to get the authorities to intervene as quickly as possible. On March 8, the founder launched the ProtéJOns system, with a view to the Olympics.

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SHE. – Why did you decide to launch “ProtéJOns” in the run-up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?

Priscillia Routier-Trillard. ProtéJOns is a citizen initiative launched with our association The Sorority Foundation and “A shelter that saves lives”. The principle is to raise the message of citizen mutual assistance to face all types of violence together.

“When the team we support draws, there is more than 26% increase in domestic violence. »

This system is based on three observations. The first is that during the Olympics, there will be more and more people in the streets and on public transport; the incivilities that exist will therefore increase mechanically. The second observation is the increase in alcohol consumption during the festivities; it is certain that the violence will only increase tenfold. These observations come from studies carried out in the United Kingdom, which proved that on match nights, when the team you support draws, there is more than 26% increase in domestic violence, and when she loses, more than 38%. The third observation is emergency accommodation which is already saturated; we also see hotel chains focusing on their main activity, namely tourism, so the nights which were previously made available, via state convention, are gradually being reduced. Consequently, there will be a great need for citizen accommodation to be able to cope with the demand which will increase.

SHE. – By what means does the ProtéJONs system help women victims of gender-based and sexual violence?

P.RT. – Concretely, ProtéJOns is a continuation of what we already do. Today, on The Sorority, we help more than 100,000 people, mainly for the moment women and people from gender minorities – for the arrival of men, it is in progress, we are in the beta phase -test so we need to give ourselves a little more time – who face situations of violence, harassment, isolation or suicidal thoughts. Whether they are followed in the street, hassled on transport, at the office, in the evening or at home, at any time, these women have this community around them. When they raise the alert, within a minute, they receive 10 to 15 contacts.

“The association will ensure the link between the welcoming families and the person being helped, with a contract put in place for a fixed period. »

At the same time, we work with the association “A shelter that saves lives”, which has the specificity of sheltering people. So we are going to look within their members or within our community for this framework which will ensure the safety of people. The association will ensure the link between the welcoming families and the person being helped, with a contract put in place for a fixed period. She will also ensure that the person is secure in this space, without communicating information about the location, by ensuring that everything is available so that the victim is properly received, with a room, etc.

SHE. – What are the “stunning effect” and the “witness effect” that you are fighting against?

P.RT. – The Sorority is based on two cognitive biases. The effect of astonishment is what we feel when we are the victim or witness of an attack; our brain freezes and we don’t react. We can blame ourselves for not having said no, or blame ourselves for not having reacted, by replaying the scene in our heads. But in reality, it is a protection of the brain to be able to survive what is happening. The idea of ​​The Sorority is to reduce the effect of astonishment and to work on this stress, by showing that we are not alone. In addition, an attacker does not expect that we will take a call, that a person, a group or the authorities will arrive to help us, so this allows us to reverse this effect.

“With this immediate burst of citizen mutual aid, we break the effect of astonishment and we impact the witness effect. »

The second cognitive bias is the bystander effect. When I had the idea to create The Sorority, a woman had been raped in Lille; there were lots of people around but no one reacted, it drove me crazy. While digging, I learned that there is the bystander effect, which explains that, proportionally, the more people there are around the scene of violence, the less someone will act. We all say to ourselves “OK, it’s too dangerous”, and at the same time we think that there will always be someone more qualified than us to act. The Sorority is based on studies that show that if a person throws their body forward, everything else follows. This is what we do within the community: with this immediate burst of citizen mutual aid, we break the effect of astonishment and we impact the witness effect. In a few seconds, we put an end to the pattern of aggression that was coming to life.

SHE. – Among the thousands of women who have been saved thanks to The Sorority app, which stories particularly struck you?

P.RT. – The last one that struck me the most was that of a woman in her fifties. She joined the community for the sole purpose of helping, because it was important to her, but did not experience any violence. She participated in a training session – it takes place one Sunday a month between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. – and was therefore trained to sound the alarm, ask for help and provide it. A few days later, she returns home in the middle of the afternoon, and is attacked by her son when she absolutely did not expect it. She immediately had the reflex to pull out the application, and in a few seconds, she received dozens of messages and calls, the authorities intervened and the attack ended. Finally, she came to help and received an overwhelming outpouring of love. Today, she knows she is not alone. It’s super moving.