“We should have put in place protective measures”, with in particular “an anti-reconciliation bracelet” regretted on franceinfo Saturday Khadija Azougach, secretary general of the association Lawyers for Women. A woman was killed the day before at her home by her ex-husband, against whom she had filed a complaint.
“There is a lack of material and human resources”, denounced on Saturday March 4 on franceinfo Khadija Azougach, general secretary of the Lawyers for Women association when a woman was killed by her ex-spouse on Friday in Gironde. According to information from franceinfo, the victim had filed a complaint twice in February.
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The man, who has since killed himself, had previously been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the attempted murder of another woman. He got out of prison 8 years early: “We should have put in place protective measures”notably “an anti-reconciliation braceletexplained Khadija Azougach on franceinfo. Today we have just 2,000 “serious danger” telephones, while there are more than 200,000 victims each year”she regretted.
franceinfo: How can this tragedy be explained?
Khadija Azougach: This young woman had filed a complaint. So we have two complaints. When a complaint is filed, the prosecution must be notified immediately. A complaint must be forwarded to the duty prosecutor, who must take measures according to the urgency. There is a danger assessment grid that has been in place since 2019. As soon as we talk about violence, we must systematically implement a whole system and unfortunately, it seems that this is not the case.
Is it a lack of means that slows down the procedures?
There is a lack of material and human resources. “Serious danger” telephones and anti-reconciliation bracelets are not used enough. Today we have just 2,000 “serious danger” telephones, while there are more than 200,000 victims of violence against women each year. We are very far from the mark. We are very far from the announced measures. There are very few trained police officers, there is a turnover, and very few specialized prosecutors. They are crowded. They manage the various emergencies and violence is often in the background compared to major narcotics cases, for example.
The man was released from prison without any particular follow-up. How do you explain it?
In 2017, there was less awareness of violence against women. But in principle, as soon as the victim filed a complaint, as soon as he had this liability, this background, we should have put in place protective measures, an anti-reconciliation bracelet, that is to say that the we can geolocate it and thus avoid this tragedy. We could also have set up a psychological follow-up. It is lacking in this type of file. Psychological follow-up is essential. It makes it possible to work on the causes of this violence.
Isn’t prison the only answer to fight against violence against women?
This raises the question of support for the perpetrators of violence against women. It’s not just jail. It is also a lot of work on the causes of this violence. They are essentially linked to sexism. And from a very young age, we must work on sexism, in particular with the effective implementation of this 2001 law through sexism and sexism education courses in schools. Today, it is still lacking. The High Council for Equality has noted that our society is unfortunately increasingly sexist today. It affects young people and that’s why we see violence between young couples. This is not the future we want for our society.