While there have already been four feminicides since the start of 2022, according to a count by the feminist collective #NousToutes, including three from January 1, six lawyers from the Lawyers 4 Women association which fights against violence committed to women, including its president Michelle Dayan, demand, Tuesday January 11, “immediate instructions” from the Minister of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti and the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin and “better coordination between all the ministries concerned and all the actors in the penal chain “.
The signatories, associations, collectives and unions, express themselves here freely. The title and the heading are from the editorial staff of franceinfo.
While the French were counting the hours before the passage in 2022, others were already counting the women murdered under the blows of their spouse or ex-spouse. January 1 of the year 2022 opened this fatal ball.
January 1, 2022. Muriel, 56, is stabbed by her companion in Meurthe-et-Moselle.
January 1, 2022. Lisa, 46, mother of a family, died of strangulation in Nice at the hands of her ex-companion, the main suspect.
January 1, 2022. Éléonore, 27, dies under the stab wounds of her companion in Maine-et-Loire.
This count goes up, day after day, illustrating the dysfunctions of our legal system.
Proof of this is a report by the General Inspectorate of Justice in 2019 on spousal homicides indicates that while 41% had alerted the security forces, 82% of the logs and judicial intelligence reports had not given rise to no investigation while 80% of complaints had resulted in a dismissal. Before considering other reforms, it is urgent, necessary and vital for those who are still alive, to apply the existing laws.
the parquet, composed of prosecutors responsible for conducting the police investigation and criminal action, must mobilize in the face of this immunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of domestic violence. As for the police, their breaches should be punished when they are noticed. In the tragic case of Chahinez Daoud, this mother of a family burned alive by her ex-husband, five police officers were thus summoned before a disciplinary council. In this tragic case, the prosecution also seriously malfunctioned by dismissing one of the victim’s complaints for death threats while the author was in prison. No prosecution, no transmission to the sentence enforcement judge who authorized an early exit.
To immediately improve the criminal procedure in order to fight effectively against domestic violence, there are simple solutions that can be activated very quickly.
An obvious solution, the motivation of rankings without follow-up: the prosecution must justify its rankings without follow-up that it pronounces easily and quickly in a succinct manner and without detailed motivation. Despite the obligation to state reasons written into the law, almost systematically, the justification given to the complainant in a dismissal without action is as follows: “insufficiently characterized offense “. Real motivation, precise and detailed, is expected from the prosecution.
What should be motivated is reflected, complaints and parts will be read more carefully, the parquet will thus assume its responsibilities in complete transparency, without having to quickly archive the files. We ask the Minister of Justice to recall this need by issuing a circular, an approach which has the advantage of being effective immediately without a law being necessary.
Necessary information for the victim: victims do not have access to their file at the stage of the police investigation. Only the public prosecutor can, without any obligation and if this decision does not risk undermining the effectiveness of the investigations, indicate to the victim that a copy of all or part of the file of the procedure is made available to them. Prosecutors must take advantage of this possibility offered by article 77-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and regularly and systematically inform victims of the progress of the procedure.
Legal aid for the victim at the stage of filing a complaint: filing a complaint is an obstacle course, emotional and legal (abusive refusal to take the complaint, lack of information on the follow-up of the complaint, lack of orientation towards the Medico-judicial units…). When the victim is assisted by an e. lawyer. as soon as a complaint is lodged, its effectiveness and follow-up are reinforced. In order for all women victims of domestic violence to have the possibility of being assisted by a lawyer, Legal Aid must be granted as soon as a complaint is filed. The author himself benefits from it as soon as he is in custody.
A reasonable mandatory mandatory period between the filing of a complaint and the referral to the criminal court or the dismissal. We are too frequently confronted with situations in which, once the victim’s complaint has been filed, no action is taken for several months. However, we know that filing a complaint puts the victim in a situation of maximum danger since it is often concomitant with a separation. The passages in the act of the violent man, who sees his victim escape him, are legion at this time. The absence of a police and criminal response (summons, police custody, judicial control, etc.) within a reasonable time places the victim in a situation of great danger.
Systematic judicial control with a ban on approaching the victim in the event of referral to the criminal court. Here again, a situation of maximum alert: when the perpetrator is sent back to a criminal court without judicial review preventing him from coming into contact with the victim, acts of violence are frequent.
Adequate training of police officers and judges and prosecutors: police officers and magistrates must continue to benefit from adequate training on the issue of domestic violence. We must strengthen the timid and insufficient existing mechanisms to generalize them to all. The respectful reception of the victims’ words and the effectiveness of the judicial response depend on it. Speech is freed, we must free listening!
Specialized police and justice: a “referent” for domestic violence must be found in each police station. A specialized public prosecutor’s office must exist in each court. We cannot be satisfied with 5 euros per capita in France as a budget to fight effectively against violence against women, while Spain has a budget of 16 euros per capita.
Bracelets and “Serious Danger Phones” should not be left in a drawer. “Serious danger telephones” also remain little used. In January 2021, only three-quarters of the low number of available phones were allocated. Likewise, thousands of anti-reconciliation bracelets are available in order to geolocate violent spouses and ex-spouses and trigger an alert system if the latter approach their victim. However, only 676 bracelets were allocated at the end of November 2021. Another obstacle to this device, before the family court judge seized of a request for a protection order, the author must give his consent for the installation of the anti-bracelet. -reconciliation. It is thus, again and again, the violent spouse who has the power.
Extension of the field of the fight against domestic violence, extension of the protection of women, extension of the training of police and judicial actors for more effective action! The dramatic resumption of feminicides and violence from the start of this year 2022 requires immediate instructions from the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of the Interior, as well as better coordination between all the ministries concerned and all the players in the penal chain. . Individual responsibility must not be diluted in collective responsibility.
The word, the law and justice have the power to put this world to the right place, this world where the victim has been the culprit for too long.
Everyone must take their responsibilities for Pascale, Jani, Gloria, Karine, Sarah, Rosa, Iraida, Doris, Sandra, Magali, Muriel, Stella, Fatima, Jennifer, Chahinez and all the others.
The petitioners :
Michelle Dayan,
Emmanuel Daoud,
Carole Pascarel,
Kadija Azougach,
Valérie Duez-Ruff,
Benjamin Pitcho,
Lawyers “L4W”.