This is really a taboo subject, and the initial reaction when you raise it is to say that it's to do with people's personal lives - and therefore companies shouldn't be involved. However, we know that women who are victims of domestic violence are often being cut off from their circle of friends, or their family, by their abusive partner. The woman becomes isolated, her movements are controlled and, in the end, the only place where she can talk freely to people is at work. And that makes it an ideal environment in which to provide help. So, it seems only logical to me that
At
In 2018, we decided to join
What did you learn from the survey published last week
That we are dealing with a real issue. No fewer than 16% of women and 4% of men reported having current or previous experience of domestic violence. The fact that this research was carried out in the first place was very well received internally and we have had a lot of anonymous feedback from our employees. People are glad that the subject is being looked at. Sadly, the survey revealed that there are victims within all of our teams. The work, which was led by four female researchers, also enabled us to measure the impact of this violence on the victim, and his or her team, in terms of their effectiveness at work, absenteeism, etc.
What action has been taken
With the other companies in the network, we agreed a plan of work and published a number of recommendations. For example, through the Solidarity Purchasing program, we are working with service providers that are willing to hire people who are victims of domestic violence. We are already doing this in
What is the aim of this training course
It's a non-mandatory module lasting 3 hours. It's delivered to small groups of about 20 people by an expert from the NGO, who presents case studies and allows a lot of time for discussion among participants. In no way is it designed to teach employees about how to deal with the problem. We just want to make people aware of this reality and able to recognize some of the key signals, so they can guide a victim to a source of help.
Why is right for the Group to be involved with this cause
As a company, we have always been involved with society, and the local area. For example, last spring year in the Le Monde newspaper, we published a call for domestic violence to be included in a convention being prepared by the
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