This measure was decided by a decree taken a month after the media coverage of a feminicide during which the victim, the ex-companion of a violent man, had not been informed of his release from prison.
Article written by
Published
Update
Reading time : 1 min.
The authorities should systematically notify victims of domestic violence of the release of their violent spouse from prison. This measure will come into force on Tuesday February 1, after a decree issued on December 24, a month after a woman was killed in Epinay-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis), stabbed by her ex-husband released from jail sooner than she thought, after a remission.
“This decree marks a new step forward in the protection of victims of domestic violence because the release of a violent spouse is a key moment, which must be an opportunity to question the protective measures put in place and to inform the victims, said the Chancellery, Saturday, January 29. The judicial authority will now have to notify the victim of the release from detention of the violent spouse, whether he is awaiting trial or already sentenced, but also “expressly provide” of “to wonder about the necessity” surveillance measures for the spouse and protection for the victim.
Among the measures envisaged in the decree, the practical details of which should be specified in February, include the ban on contacting the victim or appearing in certain places. To ensure this, the judicial authority can provide the victim with a “serious danger phone” (device making it possible to urgently request the intervention of the forces of order), or impose on the aggressor an anti-reconciliation bracelet. It is also “avoid any breach of surveillance”, for example between judicial review and incarceration.
The judicial authority will also have to ensure that the anti-reconciliation bracelet, withdrawn from a man in the event of incarceration, is well rested in the event of permission to leave or at the time of his release if the measure is still in progress.
As of January 24, 479 men were equipped with anti-reconciliation bracelets and according to the latest figures (end of December), approximately 2,200 women equipped with “serious danger phones”. According to a report from the Ministry of the Interior, 146 women were victims of feminicide in 2019, and 102 in 2020.