The anti-reconciliation bracelet warns victims of domestic violence of the presence in the vicinity of their spouse or ex-spouse -

Caroline Politi / 20 Minutes

Rarely has a measure aroused such an expectation, both among associations that help women victims of violence and among magistrates.

From Friday, the anti-reconciliation bracelet, intended to keep women away from their violent spouse or ex-spouse, can be ordered in five jurisdictions: Pontoise, Bobigny, Angoulême, Douai and Aix-en-Provence.

From the end of the year, this system will be generalized throughout the territory.

With a clear objective: to stop the increase in feminicides.

146 murders of women committed by the spouse or ex-spouse were recorded last year, 25 more than the previous year.

A long journey

The idea is not new, however.

The electronic anti-reconciliation system - Depar - has been included in law since 2009 and a first experiment was initiated in 2012-2013 in three departments.

An experiment that had turned out because the particularly restrictive criteria set at the time excluded most violent spouses.

On the other side of the Pyrenees, the electronic bracelet, in force since 2009, has nevertheless proved its worth: 1,100 bracelets are currently active in Spain which would have led, according to the authorities, to a 40% drop in conjugal murders.

And no crime has been committed on women equipped with such a device.

The choice of the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, to inaugurate the anti-reconciliation bracelet during a trip to Pontoise owes nothing to chance.

After the first experiment was abandoned, the president of the tribunal, Gwenola Joly-Coz and the prosecutor of the same jurisdiction, Eric Corbaux, took over this project in 2017. For months, they have volunteered with the Chancellery to test this device.

Both make the same observation: despite the use of the tools at their disposal - in particular the serious danger telephone which makes it possible to warn the police by pressing a button that his spouse is nearby and the protection orders - the number of murders or attempted murders committed by a spouse or ex-spouse remains dramatically stable.

Last year, four women died under the blows of their spouse or ex-spouse in this department of the greater Parisian crown.

"The problem of the telephone serious danger is that one activates it only when one sees his attacker nearby, explained last year to 20 Minutes, Eric Corbaux.

The bracelet would provide an additional level of protection since the victim would be notified as soon as the security perimeter is no longer respected.

After years of procrastination, this provision was finally finally passed in Parliament last December.

“The deployment of anti-rapprochement bracelets is part of a framework of global reflection on the fight against violence against women.

It is an additional tool for the magistrates, in addition to the telephones serious danger ”, one explains to the Ministry of Justice, recalling also that these 1,100 of these telephones were currently allotted, against only 300 last year.

How it works ?

A thousand bracelets are already available.

They can be issued in a criminal context, as a measure of judicial control pending trial or in connection with a sentence, but also, something new, in a civil context, by a family court judge in the context of a protection order.

In this case, however, the consent of the alleged perpetrator of the violence is required, under the presumption of innocence.

Once the device is triggered, the victim is given, as soon as he leaves the court, a box to geolocate him.

The perpetrator receives a similar case and is equipped with an electronic bracelet.

Each magistrate then establishes, depending on the file but also the geography of the place, an alert zone - between one and ten kilometers around the victim - and a pre-alert zone - between two and twenty kilometers.

If the abusive partner enters the pre-alert zone, he receives two calls to warn him.

If he continues towards the alert zone, the victim of violence is directed to safety and the police are notified.

The closest crew turned towards the alert zone, this alarm being considered a priority.

The magistrate is then informed of the situation and can take the necessary decisions.

Beyond the direct sanction, the authorities hope for a deterrent effect of the measure.

"We must not underestimate the psychological weight of the bracelet on the wearer," insists the Chancellery.

Society

Ile-de-France: The confinement had a "revealing" effect for victims of domestic violence, according to a report

Paris

Pontoise: Towards a new device to fight against feminicides, which are falling too slowly

  • Violence against women

  • Domestic violence

  • Pontoise

  • Society

  • Paris