It was to be the “great cause of the five-year term”. Four years after Emmanuel Macron’s promise, where is the fight against violence against women? “We did a lot of things, even if crime sometimes reminds us, alas, that we perhaps did not do enough”, estimated the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, on December 1, before the delegation for women’s rights of the National Assembly. Is the Keeper of the Seals right? To find out, franceinfo took stock of government policy.
Sometimes contradictory communication
The fight against violence against women has imposed itself in the public debate, rejoice those interviewed by Franceinfo. “I think this government was keen to talk about this subject and it is now irrigating society”, considers Danielle Bousquet, president of the National Federation of Information Centers for Women’s Rights (FNCIDFF).
Buthe putting the issue of violence on the agenda is not to be put to the sole credit of the government. “The movement is party of #MeToo, of the company which mobilized enormously on social networks, in militant circles, during major demonstrations “, nuance Marylie Breuil, spokesperson for the collective #NousToutes.
On the contrary, the appointment of Gérald Darmanin to the Ministry of the Interior when he was accused of rape or the words of Emmanuel Macron, who spoke of the fear of “society of the inquisition” by reacting to the Nicolas Hulot affair, were seen as signs of resistance from the “rape culture” at the highest level of the state.
A clearly expanded legislative arsenal
It is certainly the aspect of government action that is the most widely welcomed. In five years, “there have been significant legislative changes”, notes Françoise Brié, president of the National Federation of Solidarity Women (which manages the telephone number 3919). Four major texts can be taken into account of the government’s action:
The law strengthening action against gender-based and sexual violence. Adopted in 2018, it notably extends from 20 to 30 years the statute of limitations for sexual crimes committed against minors, broadens the definition of cyberstalking by including the repression of “digital raids” and creates a new offense of gender contempt against harassment of street.
The 2018-2022 programming and justice reform law. Adopted in 2019, it extends the possibility of placing convicted persons convicted of domestic violence under electronic surveillance, creates the possibility of filing a pre-complaint online and strengthens the possibility of evicting the perpetrator of domestic violence from the home.
The law aimed at taking action against violence within the family. This text, adopted in 2019, sets up a rental guarantee for women victims of violence, reduces to six days the time limit for the courts to rule on a request for a protection order, creates the device of the anti-reconciliation bracelet to keep the perpetrator at bay and establishes the systematic suspension of parental authority when the parent is the perpetrator of domestic homicide.
The law to protect victims of domestic violence. This legislation, which entered into force in 2020, establishes the lifting of medical confidentiality in cases of violence, recognizes “forced suicide” (when a person is the victim of harassment or violence), orders the seizure of weapons as soon as they are deposited. complaint and allows the judge to suspend the visitation and accommodation rights of a minor child whose parent is placed under judicial supervision.
An increasing budget (but not enough)
Another subject of satisfaction for the associations: the bubdgetary effort made, even if the activists recall that it was very “tenuous” initially and must therefore continue. The budget of the Secretary of State, then of the Minister for Equality between Women and Men, almost doubled between 2017 and 2021, from 22.3 million euros to 41.5 million euros. The trend is expected to continue in 2022, with an envelope of 50.6 million euros, according to the finance bill.
The reality is a little less beautiful, underline Senators Arnaud Bazin and Eric Bocquet in an information report dated July 2020. They recall that the ministry has integrated more missions, which partly explains the increase in appropriations. In addition, part of this additional envelope comes from the reallocation of old unused credits. The implementation of certain measures “is therefore done to the detriment of other actions initially planned “, they regret.
However, this budget does not take into account all the resources dedicated to the fight against violence against women, which is the subject of specific measures in other ministries. In total, the government claimed an envelope of more than“one billion” euros at the end of 2019. Or as much as Spain’s budget, often cited as an example on the subject, and that what a report of the High Council for equality between women and men recommends (PDF).
>> Domestic violence: meet the Spanish “protective agents”, who watch over the victims 24 hours a day
But again, the account is not there, according to the senators. This billion indeed ranges “over several fiscal years” and three quarters correspond to aid to developing countries. In addition, funds dedicated to France (282 million euros in 2020) participate, for almost half (138 million), remuneration of teachers, who address gender issues in the classroom.
Reinforced tools and new ones created
In five years, the additional budget has made it possible to strengthen already existing systems and create new ones, which however suffer from a lack of notoriety. Here are a few :
The development of 3919. This free and anonymous listening number, which has been in existence since 1992, covers the entire territory since this year. He is also become accessible to people with disabilities and can now be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The creation of additional accommodation places. A little over 2,700 accommodation places for women victims of violence were created under the five-year term, going from 5,100 places in 2017 to 7,820 places at the end of 2021. In addition, 1,000 additional places have been announced for 2022. “To fully meet the needs, the number of places should be multiplied by three to five times”, nevertheless regret associations in a recent report (PDF). In addition, 30 accommodation centers for the perpetrators of violence have been created since 2020, making it possible to accommodate 6,075 people, according to the Minister of Justice.
The launch of the Arretonslesviolences.gouv.fr platform. Launched in 2018 by the Ministry of the Interior, it makes it possible to find information, report violence and dialogue 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with police officers trained in the fight against sexual violence.
The creation of the offense of sexist contempt. Criticized at its launch for its difficult application (it requires that the author be caught in the act), sexist outrage remains a marginal tool. Between August 3, 2018 and December 31, 2020, only 2,600 offenses were recorded in France, or around three per day, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of the Interior. It remains nevertheless “interesting from the point of view of the evolution of mentalities to make it understood that one cannot harass with impunity “, believes lawyer Carine Durrieu-Diebolt.
The proliferation of protection orders. This procedure, which has existed since 2010 but remains little known, allows the judge to ensure the protection of victims of domestic violence, for example by prohibiting the perpetrator from coming into contact with the victim. “The requests for protection orders increased sharply between 2018 and 2020 (+ 78.4%), as did the acceptance rate of these (from 61.8% to 66.7%)”, notes a report from the Ministry of Justice (PDF). But their number (3,320 in 2020) remains very low compared to Spain: in 2019, 70% of the 40,720 prescriptions requested in the country had been granted (or 28,682).
The development of the telephone serious danger. This system, tested in 2009 and generalized in 2014, is booming. While 543 phones were deployed in 2017, they are 3,036 at the end of 2021 and will be 5,000 by the end of 2022, assured the Minister of Justice. But all are not necessarily used, due to a lack of knowledge of the magistrates: of the 1,716 telephones available at the beginning of January, only three quarters (1,274) were allocated, according to the High Council for equality between women and men.
The development of the anti-reconciliation bracelet. This device, tested in 2020 in five jurisdictions and generalized in 2021, works with the help of a GPS which makes it possible to geolocate violent spouses or ex-spouses and to trigger an alert system when the latter approach. their victim. A thousand bracelets are available, but only 676 of them have been awarded as of November 3, according to the Minister of Justice.
More trained police and gendarmes
Since 2019, the gendarmes have ten hours of training on violence against women within their curriculum and the police twelve hours, assures the Ministry of the Interior. This initial training is supplemented by continuing training for those already in post, but it is often optional or conditional on a transfer to a post specializing in violence. In total, more than 88,200 police and gendarmes have received training for better support for victims since the start of the five-year term, nevertheless assures the government.
For their part, magistrates also receive a ten-hour training course during their initial course. This is supplemented by sessions of a few days at the National School of Magistrates and, since 2019, by an obligation of training during any change of function.
Some specialized professionals benefit from longer training (about a week), but they are not numerous enough to be present in each police station or gendarmerie, regret the feminist associations. There are thus only 276 family protection brigades for the more than 600 existing police stations, reports Le Parisien (paid item).
Results still barely visible
Have the efforts made during Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term bear fruit? Between 2010 and 2019, the number of complaints for sexual violence increased by a factor of 2.4, notes INSEE in its study “Security and society” published in 2021. An increase that the institute attributes to “speech liberation movements” and to “the improvement of the policies of reception of the victims in the police stations and the brigades of gendarmerie”.
This is confirmed by the #NousToutes collective, on the basis of testimonies collected online: between 2018 and 2021, the proportion of women who felt they had been badly received when filing a complaint rose from 91% to 66%. A level contrasting, however, with the 90% satisfaction that the Ministry of the Interior boasted in 2020, according to The cross.
Nevertheless, despite more complaints and better reception of victims, the consequences on the conviction of perpetrators of violence are varied. Between 2016 and 2020, the number of men convicted of domestic violence increased significantly, from 15,328 in 2016 to 19,501 in 2020. On the other hand, the number of rape convictions has fallen: in 2010, 1,342 rape offenses were punished, compared to 1,269 in 2018, according to data from the Ministry of Justice.
Finally, and while the media treatment of these cases has gained momentum, the number of feminicides has not managed to drop permanently. In 2006, the Ministry of the Interior listed 137 feminicides committed in France. A decade later, this figure (which varies from year to year) continues to remain above 100 women killed each year: 118 in 2015, 109 in 2016, 130 in 2017, 121 in 2018, 146 in 2019, 102 in 2020 …