Placed in receivership in March 2023 following management problems, the association “Du Côté des femmes”, over-indebted, is on borrowed time. It escaped judicial liquidation last May but must go back to the commercial court in early August. Some employees are upset and the women are very worried.
“When I learned that the association was in danger, I cried.” Sophia (whose first name has been changed) is just sticking her head out of the water. Hit, insulted, humiliated for two years by her ex-husband, she arrived at the association “Du Côté des femmes” in Cergy “like a living dead”. In two years of care, “they rebuilt me, like many women I met during my journey”.
She can’t imagine how other victims, destroyed by their spouse, could get up on their own.
When Sophia knocked, “collapsed”, at the door of the association “On the women’s side” in Cergy-Saint-Christophe in 2021, she was immediately reassured: “we will find a solution for you, you are no longer alone”. First hosted for six weeks in a small hotel in Meulan (Yvelines), since abandoned by the structure to save money, the 30-year-old was able to “recharge your batteries a bit”. His referent then suggested that he embark on “the adventure of reconstruction” . She moved into the “H24”, a large house in the Vexin at the address kept secret, which accommodated around forty women and children in danger, 24 hours a day. But there too, the establishment had become too expensive, closed in April 2023.
During her 4 months of stay in the collective structure, Sophia benefited from multidisciplinary support: psychologist, therapist, administrative support to redo the CAF papers confiscated by her husband, legal aid to obtain a divorce, help in finding a employment, sports or yoga workshops. Sophia is supported at 360°, “always kindly.”
During my two years of care in the association “Du Côté des femmes”, I saw my metamorphosis and those of other women. How are the new victims going to do if they are not as well supported?
Sophia, victim of domestic violence
After a few months, she “starts to recover” and move on to the next step: settling in a shared apartment in a CHRS “accommodation and social reintegration center”. A small house then an apartment in the east of Val-d’Oise which she shares with another victim and her children. She starts working again, does her shopping, the appointments with the psychologist and the therapist become less frequent, but the association is still very present. “My husband was blocking me for the divorce. ‘I’m going to kill you, you’re dead if I catch you!’ he said to me. The fact of living in a secret place, of being accompanied by such devoted and protective people saved me. They always told me not to give up, that we were going to get there and that’s it. It’s true! They got me back on my feet.”
But several professionals who helped her have left.
Too much spending, not enough subsidies: 1.2 million euros in debt
Because while Sophia was accompanied, the association, a pillar of the fight against domestic violence in the Val-d’Oise, spent lavishly. The hotel rooms in Meulan or the accommodation center in the Vexin were costly services in terms of personnel but which were not fully subsidized. The LEAO (Listening, reception and orientation centre) which accompanies 1,200 women who are not housed by the association each year, had 8 social workers while only 3 positions were funded.
Inevitably, deficits grew, cash flow melted, wages were paid late. In March 2023, the debt amounted to 1.2 million euros. Untenable.
Legal redress
The structure is therefore placed in receivership with the aim of saving money to clean up the accounts and prove that “On the women’s side”, often cited as a model in Île-de-France, is viable.
The measures taken are drastic and rapid: permanent closure of the accommodation centers of Meulan and Boissy L’Aillerie (40 emergency places in the Vexin), redundancy of 15 employees out of 65. Lack of budget to remunerate external workers , no psychologist accompanies women and educational outings (sport, cinema, wellness workshops, etc.) have been canceled, including for children.
At the same time, all of the association’s partners are mobilized, starting with the Prefecture of Val-d’Oise. The State, the main funder, paid certain subsidies in advance and organizes meetings with all possible partners and funders: family allowance fund, regional health agency, local authorities. Social landlords are asked to find 40 emergency places in vacant apartments intended to accommodate women and children in danger.
The liquidation of “On the Women’s Side” is not an option for us. It is unthinkable to abandon this association.
Riad Bouhafs, Departmental Director of Employment, Labor and Solidarity at the Prefecture of Val-d’Oise
But within the association, in the premises of the Cergy and Sarcelles branches, some employees are upset.
“We no longer have the means to do our job”, they explain on condition of anonymity because the judicial administrator forbids them to speak to the press. (The management did not respond to our requests either).
“Degraded working conditions”
Before, there were 8 social workers, divided between Cergy and Sarcelles. Today they are 3. “How do you want to do the same job? asks Isabelle (the first name has been changed). We are all exhausted. Our workload is increasing and service to victims is deteriorating.” His colleague adds: “Before, when a lady needed help, I made an appointment for her within two weeks. Now, they have to wait more than a month! A month is a long time when you are fragile.”
Social workers or police services now avoid directing women to the association. This also encourages victims to seek help elsewhere, in particular at the CIDFF (Information Center on the Rights of Women and Families, which has many branches). “But there is no psychological follow-up over time, the support is above all legal” explains Isabella. “Their stakeholders do not travel during the filing of complaints or court hearings as we did to be alongside the ladies in these events.”
Noémie (the first name has been changed) protests: “we keep hearing that the fight against domestic violence is the great cause of the five-year term, but we just see our working and reception conditions deteriorating!
Employees of the association sent a letter to Isabelle Rome, Minister Delegate for Equality between Women and Men, at the end of June to ask her for more support from the State. But this letter remained unanswered.
Extract from the letter sent by employees of the association “Du Côté des Femmes” to the Minister for Equality between Women and Men, Isabelle Lonvis-Rome. • © Employees On The Women’s Side
The fate of the association born in 1984 is now in the hands of the Commercial Court of Pontoise. On August 1, the judges will analyze the accounts but also the arguments of the directors, management and employees to find out, thanks to this new progress report, whether the association seems able to continue its missions.
In the Val-d’Oise, apart from a few exhausted employees, no one can imagine the liquidation of the largest association for helping women and children victims of domestic violence in the department. Especially not the other small associations of already overwhelmed volunteers, who see new victims pouring in and are unable to take care of them for lack of sufficient financial support.
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