In France, a child dies every five days beaten to death by a relative (this situation got much worse during lockdown). Studies reveal that, very often, neighbours have doubts but don’t dare call the police, either because they’re afraid they’re wrong, or because they don’t think it’s their business. Yet, when in doubt, there is an emergency number: 119. It’s not the police. It’s a special helpline with people who will look into the problem and keep an eye on the situation. Our objective is to remind people that this number exists and that it’s their responsibility to call it if they suspect something is wrong. Not doing so could lead to the worst-case scenario.

By placing reproductions of the walls of victims right in the middle of a public space, we went out to find people directly during their daily commute to surprise and fappeal to them.

At first glance, these walls looked like walls in anybody’s home and that was the whole point … abuse can happen anywhere to anybody. On the frame of the walls, we could read the terrible stories of the three children, who were beaten to death at the hands of relatives, urging people to call the 119 helpline if they were at all worried.