MADRID, Spain | Anti-relationship bracelets, which the Quebec Ministry of Public Security is beginning to use, have proven their effectiveness for more than a decade in Spain: none of the 13,000 victims of domestic violence protected by this tool have been killed.
“The advantage of the bracelet is that it warns the authorities beforehand. If the distance order is 500 meters, the device rings when the man is less than 1000 meters away. The victim will then be able to look for where to protect themselves, such as in a store or at home,” explains Marta Fernández Ulloa, head of the Madrid police’s women’s protection unit.
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The new model of anti-reconciliation bracelet presented by the Ministry of Equality in Spain, in January 2023.
Since 2009, more than 13,000 violent men have been forced to wear this device, invented in Madrid by a Spanish scientist, on their ankle or wrist. It has been widely rewarded for its world-leading technology.
Deter
“It is clear that technology has great potential to deter attack while giving the victim a sense of protection and security,” said Spanish criminologist Lorea Arenas García in an analysis.
“The measure is also effective in stopping potential attacks, as there has not been a single case of [meurtre] and it succeeded in stopping the homicidal intentions of the attackers who crossed the exclusion zone,” writes the university professor.
Rather than prison, judges can impose this surveillance measure on defendants who have broken their protective order. They also determine the separation distance not to be crossed.
“We can also include places such as the victim’s house, his place of work”, lists judge María Gracia Perera de Cáceres, head of one of the courts specializing in violence against women in Madrid.
Erika Aubin / JdeM
Judge María Gracia Perera de Cáceres, head of one of the courts specializing in violence against women in Madrid.
The magistrates have more and more recourse to this device, which has proven its effectiveness and which has improved over the years, according to her. The tool is also a valuable means of proof, as all alerts are recorded, which avoids the victim having to go to a police station to denounce the offence.
- Listen to Richard Martineau’s interview with Louise Riendeau, spokesperson for the group of houses for women victims of domestic violence via QUB-radio :
Not always the solution
Judge María Gracia Perera de Cáceres warns, however: “For certain profiles of the accused, the bracelet is not the right solution. Men who have problems with alcohol or drug use will never charge the battery, which sets off alarms. »
For his part, Gregorio Gómez Mata, director of the ALMA association against gender violence, also believes that the bracelets bring a sense of security to protected women. However, defendants “learned to use it to inspire fear in their victim”, he adds.
Courtesy
Gregorio Gómez Mata, director of the ALMA association against gender violence, in Badajoz, Spain
“As the alarm sounds in advance, they will for example go for a coffee and then say that they did not know that the bar was near the place of work of their victim. Psychologically, it becomes very difficult for these women,” he explains.
According to him, the courts must be more sensitive to these situations and put in place mechanisms to detect them.
Quebec became the first province in Canada to deploy stranglehold bracelets about a year ago. At the moment, only defendants who have been released or who have served provincial sentences – of less than two years – can be given a bracelet.
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