Emmanuel Macron has made it "a priority of the presidency".

In recent years, the fight against gender inequalities has become a central theme of public debate.

While measures have been announced to strengthen support for women victims of violence and fight against wage inequalities, certain phenomena remain largely unknown.    

According to a study by the Solidarité Femmes network of associations conducted in 2019, 23% of women victims of domestic violence say they suffer from financial pressure from their spouse, ranging from controlling their expenses to banning work or outright embezzlement. and simple of their salary.  

A question taken seriously by the deputies of the Delegation for Women's Rights to the National Assembly, who wish to include the notion of economic violence in French law in order to make it a crime.  

On the occasion of International Women's Day in the world, France 24 takes stock with Françoise Brié, spokesperson for the Solidarité Femmes network, specializing in the reception, support and accommodation of women victims of violence in France.  

What exactly does the notion of economic violence against women correspond to

?  

From the work of associations and our national helpline, we have identified six forms of violence in domestic violence cases: verbal, psychological, physical, sexual, economic and administrative.

Economic violence brings together a set of actions of controls on the financial autonomy of women such as blackmail in finances, harassment on the control of purchases, confiscation of wages or property, or even the prohibition to work.   

This type of violence takes place within the household, but can also continue after separation, with non-payment of bail or repeated legal proceedings against women with little or no resources.

It is important to understand that we are not taking part in simple couple disputes, but in domestic violence that is sometimes very serious.  

How do you assess the extent of this phenomenon in France

?  

Few statistics are available on this subject, which is still little taken into account in studies on domestic violence.

But it is a recurring subject for associations working on the issue.

In our 2019 study, based on nearly 13,000 cases of domestic violence, more than one in five women told us about this type of financial pressure.

Among the 3,000 examples that we then listed, a woman told us that she received 20 euros per week for herself and her children.

Another signed the partition of her property in favor of her abusive spouse at the notary, despite the latter's warnings.

We have also had cases of women to whom the spouse charged the living expenses while he paid the drafts and refused any division of the property upon separation.   

Our study indicates that this is a widespread phenomenon that affects all socio-professional categories, from workers to senior executives.  

What are the priorities today to fight against this type of violence

?  

Women exposed to this type of violence sometimes find themselves without resources and without housing in the event of separation.

As such, we need more emergency reception places and we also ask for the establishment of a temporary allowance that could allow associations to focus more effectively on psychological support for people, procedures administrative procedures and return to work when necessary.   

At the associative level, there is a lot of work to deconstruct these sexist phenomena with women and make them aware that they are not guilty, and that their spouses exercise control.

This step is all the more complicated as economic violence is often insidious and takes place in a societal framework that is already unequal for women.  

Politically, things are starting to move forward.

LREM deputy Marie-Pierre Rixain wants to make the payment of salaries of female employees into an account in their name, to protect their financial autonomy.

It is a measure that goes in the right direction, but we must go further by including economic violence in French law to make it criminal offenses.

The fight against economic violence must be a priority, just like the fight against sexual violence and the issue of accommodation for victims.   

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