On this international day for the elimination of violence against women, focus on an association of women lawyers in Senegal: for 50 years, this organization has offered legal assistance to women victims of violence or injustice. Since 2010, a toll-free number has been added to the eight law shops located throughout the area to provide assistance to women and children in distress. Report in the first to have been created, in the historic district of the medina, in the heart of the capital.
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With our correspondent in Dakar, Léa-Lisa Westerhoff
At the end of the line, when you call the Medina law shop, Maïmouna Ndiaye: it has been four years since this trained lawyer answered the free number of the association, located in the capital of Senegal. “ Most of the calls are domestic violence, physical, moral, sometimes even economic.she explains. For example, a woman is beaten by her husband when she wakes up and all she can do is call the toll-free number and ask for advice. »
Since the creation of 800 805 805 in 2010 – also open to men since 2013 – denunciations have been on the rise. But for Bitylokho Faye, coordinator of the Medina law shop, the taboo remains very strong in a patriarchal society. “ Certainly, women now come to us. But, when we go to the populations, we realize that there are fewer denunciations if we compare to what they experienced, she says. In relation to male domination, Senegalese society has ensured that women have the right to suffer but not to denounce. Which means that we suffer a lot more violence and stigmatization also from men. »
“ When you know your rights, you are in a position to defend yourself »
And this, associated with a lack of awareness of their rights, and often financially dependent. A woman, who received legal assistance for divorce, has only one piece of advice: “ We must come here, when spouses sometimes abuse their position as husbands to “to strip” of what they need. When you know your rights, you are in a position to defend yourself. »
Throughout Senegal, the eight law boutiques offer free legal and psychological assistance.
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