“Do not hesitate to file a complaint”. This is the message hammered out, Wednesday June 15, by Elisabeth Borne in the countryside on the Villers-Bocage market (Calvados). A call to push the door of the police station of the head of government while Mediapart (paid item) published a new damning testimony against Damien Abad, his Minister of Solidarity.
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Laetitia, a “elected centrist”indeed accuses the former leader of the LR deputies, already targeted by two rape charges, of an attempted rape during a party organized at his home in 2010. Facts disputed by the new minister.
“You understand that I cannot comment on the basis of anonymous testimonies”, insisted Elisabeth Borne, questioned by a resident of the 6th constituency of Calvados, where the Prime Minister is running. “I really say to women, as Prime Minister and as a woman, that I invite them to file a complaint, because it is important that justice can tell the facts.”
It is this injunction to file a complaint that has particularly made feminist associations and activists react. Franceinfo interviewed Elodie Tuaillon–Owl, lawyer at the Paris bar, who has defended complainants in cases of sexual violence in recent years involving politicians, notably Gérald Darmanin and Georges Tron. She explains why it is not so simple for the victims.
Franceinfo: What did you think of the words of Elizabeth Thick headed ?
Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon: That sends another very bad signal to the victims of sexual violence and it is not entirely in accordance with the state of our law. In France, there is the public prosecutor’s office and the public prosecutor who, every day, take up cases themselves.
“In many other situations, such as when there is a road accident for example, we do not require the victims to file a complaint to investigate.”
Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, lawyerat franceinfo
The prosecution had also seized at the time of the Adèle Haenel affair, but has hardly done so for a few years. The argument of the anonymity of the testimony mentioned by the latter does not hold. It is also worth asking what this says about the level of contempt for journalistic work: the recent cases revealed in the media do not come from gossip overheard at the local café. Those are surveys that follow of the ethical rules.
Moreover, in a modern democracy, isn’t it problematic to require that the woman who testifies in the media give us her address and all her pedigree so that, perhaps, something happens thing ? As a reminder, in the Mediapart article, the latter is not anonymous for journalists, it is anonymized for the public.
What do you think are the main obstacles to filing a complaint for a victim of sexual violence?
These brakes, we know them so well that it makes Madame Borne’s words even more questionable. To file a complaint, you must first be able to push the door of a police station: all victims are not equal in this starting situation. Some women have misconceptions about what rape is. They believe that there must be a weapon, that you must have been hit…
These women need to be advised, there are very good feminist associations and lawyers who do this work, but there are not enough of them. All the women also do not have the same financial and material resources: if you are in the countryside, you are isolated, how do you manage?
For those who have the resources, the reception of their words then comes into play. Will they be well received in police stations? Are the professionals sufficiently trained? Do they have enough empathy? Won’t they fall into prejudices?
Can it be an additional deterrent that a minister in office is concerned, as is the case in the Abad affair?
Yes, it’s already very difficult to file a complaint against your next-door neighbor or a colleague. So against a minister, who is also supported by the government… Emmanuel Macron has also demonstrated that he provides a form of support to the men of his government in certain cases of sexual violence and this support [interpellé, le 9 juin, lors d’un déplacement dans le Tarn, il a répondu : “Pour fonctionner en société, vous devez avoir de la présomption d’innocence”]. This is the last nail in the coffin of the victims. On these cases, the president has a real doctrine that he must assume.
Should psychological constraints also be taken into account to understand this reluctance?
Yes, there are non-legal brakes, such as the traumatic amnesia of the victims or the feeling of shame and guilt that inhabit them. It is extremely common. There is also the fear of the consequences on their lives.
“From the moment you denounce policies, even at the local level, you know that all his supporters will fall on you.”
Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, lawyerat franceinfo
In the Tron case, for example, the victims suffered enormously. The extent of the media is also a brake, especially when it comes to exposing elements that relate to his private life in the eyes of all. The European Court of Human Rights has recalled that the privacy of victims must be respected by the defence. However, it is very common to see complainants’ personal information revealed in the courts, especially in cases of sexual violence.
Convictions are rare in sexual violence cases. Is this yet another reason for discouragement for potential victims?
Indeed. But in France, the most difficult thing is above all to come before the courts. It is necessary to override the classification without follow-up and not to be concerned by a dismissal order, this is where it is the most complicated. There are many uncertainties: will the plaintiff come across a public prosecutor who has a proactive criminal policy on sexual cases or is she going to have to deal with a prosecution that these cases are boring, because that they are long and complex? As a reminder, France is still not in compliance with the Istanbul Convention. The latter, signed in 2011 and ratified in 2014, asks that the procedure not be an obstacle for the victims.
“It is completely normal for some women to hesitate or prefer not to file a complaint.”
Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon, lawyerat franceinfo
This is why it is quite hypocritical to hold this kind of speech: in France neither the law, nor the procedure, nor the jurisdiction are able to guarantee the good course of the complainant. Finally, it is important to remember that it is not because there is no penalty sanction that he there can be no disciplinary sanction. Iit is possible to act without criminal complaint; this is the whole meaning of the safety obligation that weighs, for example, on private and public employers.