SOS Femmes Accueil - Why this website?

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Why this website?

Women represent a little more than half the population of the planet. The majority from a mathematical viewpoint, they are in fact an oppressed minority in societies which have monopolized the means of coercion for the sole benefit of men. During the XXth century, important progress concerning women's status was made in developed countries, progress generally won by women themselves, through fierce battles with men's hostility. However, the feminine condition continues to suffer today from inequality.	Mariama pounding in Niamey, Niger
Two Ethiopian adolescents witness World AIDS Day Gothenburg, Sweden	In particular, women are victims of innumerable forms of violence. Most often, these different forms of violence are discrete, buried, kept silent. In addition to this suffering, they secrete in those who are the victims of shame, of guilt … of secrets. Around these women, their word - when they break the silence and … when they are rough - is neglected, it even generates disapproval, sometimes hate; it runs up against the active or passive complicity of social groups, individuals, sometimes even institutions who are supposed to protect women or provide specific services.
Since its creation in 1981, the association SOS Femmes Accueil has made its objective the promotion of the conditions of the life of women. In order to be able to propose answers and concrete aid in disturbing situations, it has equipped itself with a specific tool: a shelter (un centre d'hébergement) to welcome, inform, accompany and if necessary house women in difficulty, alone or with their children. This website tries to contribute to the improvement of the status of women, a tool to benefit them; it hopes to be a place to exchange with those who visit, initially by email (answer in English or French guaranteed ! see section Questions, messages, answers of the website, in French only); it contains information that we hope will be useful to women but also volunteers in associations, social workers, health personnel, … to everyone actually.	[From Sorrow by V. van Gogh]

The World Wide Web is an incredible network of exchanges. Also, the association wishes to make its own tribute to the internet whose resources are consulted regularly in the association's daily work.

Thank you to those who have advised me and helped out, and especially to:
- Juliette Michel: corrections, advice, iconography, Spanish homepage (now deleted);
- Karolina Majewska: page the legal section concerning prostitution;
- Jean-Claude Gourdin: technical advice on web mastering!
- Dominique Resch, who provided me with most of the iconographic materiel for the section Controlling fertility and pregnancy termination and many other images found elsewhere on the site;
- Lori K. Mihalich, to whom I owe the content on the page "Immigrant women and domestic violence" (French and English versions) and who corrected certain pages in English (deleted now that the English version has been completed).
- Flavio Cardone : Italian homepage (now deleted).
- Natalie Level and Annie Warmke, who translated Le Petit Livret Bleu into English.
- Aurélie Houpert who updated the directory of shelters and emergency housing in 2004 and many others pages in 2005 (links, resources, English version,...).
- Pamela Strawgate (ps-lifecoaching.com) who translated the majority of the English version of this website.

(also please read the notice).

Yves Lambert, director [photo]



home l domestic violence \| rape and sexual abuse \| harassment \| prostitution \| homosexuals \| birth control and abortion heart and body \| links, resources \| professionals \| questions, messages, answers \| what's new ? \| everything about sosfa \| @