The hospitality company aims to provide safety in co-operation with a French women's protection organisation.
Around four in 10 female victims of abuse who request accommodation are turned away due to emergency schemes being at total capacity – this is the result of a study in France published by La Fondation des Femmes, a French organisation for the protection of women’s rights. Therefore, the foundation and the hospitality company Accor have launched a platform dedicated to ‘Emergency Shelter’, an initiative aiming to provide accommodation and safety within Accor hotels for women and children who are abuse victims.
The platform wants to ensure that emergency accommodation is provided quicker and more securely, Accor committing to giving female victims of abuse a hotel room. It addresses an essential need of La Fondation des Femmes and other organisations it supports, including the Fédération Nationale Solidarité Femmes (French National Federation for Women’s Solidarity). Since March, 148 women and children have benefited from this program, which is now being rolled out throughout France.
The ‘Emergency Shelter’ program extends the scheme introduced by Accor during the Covid-19 pandemic, which provided access to overnight stays at cost price. Studies show that domestic abuse and violence increased significantly during the lockdown periods, and the shortage of emergency accommodations intensified.
This initiative is in line with Accor’s commitment to helping protect female victims of abuse, and highlights the massive need for accommodation, requiring widespread action.
“This project helps to step up our collective response against the scourge of violence against women,” said Anne-Cécile Mailfert, President of La Fondation des Femmes. Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of Accor, added: “Offering shelter to women and children who have suffered violence, and enabling them to rebuild their lives with dignity was a natural development for us.”
