The aim was to improve support for women and children victims, by comparing our experiences, points of view and analyses, by promoting training and inter-professional exchanges. In addition to our actions, we wanted to combat the invisibility of the specific effects of violence on the mother-child relationship, to encourage screening, listening and support for victims. Many women find themselves isolated as a result of the violence they suffer, and may have fusional or conflictual relationships with their children, not to mention the phenomenon of parentification that is very often observed. Specific symptoms linked to violence exist in children, which can be difficult to see without specific training. Finally, certain preconceived ideas persist: a violent husband can be a good father, very young children don't realize anything... We wanted to turn these stereotyped conceptions on their head and shed some light on this issue. As E. Durand, a French magistrate specializing in childhood and violence, puts it: "to protect the mother is to protect the child". And when we know the risks of reproduction in adulthood, as victim or perpetrator, of children who have suffered violence, this becomes a major issue in terms of public health.
According to the French High Council for Equality, 400,000 children are victims of domestic violence in France. Since the beginning 2024, seven children in Spain have been killed by their fathers as a result of domestic violence, according to El Pais in March 2024. Recently, first in Spain and then in France, thanks to the adoption of new laws, children have been recognized as co-victims of such violence. This fundamental recognition has given them access to new rights. The Hyphen project (like the one that unites mother and child in "mother-child") was born of observations and fieldwork carried out by our associations. In addition to supporting women victims on one side; children victims on the other side, we wanted to focus on the process of restoring the mother-child bond. In fact, the mother-child relationship is still a blind spot in the subject, and is nonetheless the focus of specific programs in our associations. With Hyphen, we are responding to two needs: - To open up a space for reflection and to give a voice to children victims of adulte violence - To train professionals who do not feel sufficiently trained to deal with the mother-child bond in a context of domestic violence