Thursday, July 4, Isabelle, 37, is overthrown by a car in Thil, near Reims. Driving, his 34-year-old companion. Friday, July 5, Christelle, 32, mother of four children, is stabbed to death by his companion, in Perpignan. Saturday, July 6, a 31-year-old woman died in the Chevreuse Valley (Yvelines) strangled by her 28-year-old spouse. A week yet ordinary in France, where a woman is killed every two days by her spouse. This figure is all the more worrying as it is increasing compared to the official statistics of the last six years, which counted a feminicide every three days. Since the beginning of the year, 75 have been identified.
In 2015, France was already one of the European countries where women suffer the most violence. Among those who make all the data available, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom are not left out.
"Grenelle of domestic violence"
Faced with this sad reality, feminist associations and collectives gathered on Saturday, July 6, in Paris, to sound the alarm and call for immediate action. The same evening, Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that the Republic had "failed to (...) protect" the victims of murders committed by spouses or former companions, in a message on Facebook. In the presidential mea culpa was added Sunday, the launch in September of a "Grenelle of domestic violence" by the government. Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Marlene Schiappa, also promised that "a large citizen consultation and a communication campaign" will be organized "to challenge the whole society", in an interview in the Sunday newspaper.
The "Grenelle of conjugal violence", which will be introduced by Édouard Philippe and will bring Matignon ministers, administrations, associations and families of victims, will open "on 3/9/19, echoing the number 3919", the dedicated telephone line to women victims of violence, said Marlène Schiappa. It must make it possible to "build even more effective measures, closer to the field".
Announcements that come too late outrage feminist collectives like #NousToutes: "a meeting in two months and results in five (after the adoption of the state budget) .The gap between the unprecedented mobilization of society against the feminicides and the answers is blatant, "lambasted the collective in a statement titled" Mr. President, the violence does not take vacation. "
The pioneering Spain
France is indeed lagging far behind, far behind Spain, which is a good student in this area in Europe. On the other side of the Pyrenees, gender violence has been a major national cause since 2003, partly because of a tragedy that has rocked the country. In 1997, a sexagenarian who came to testify of her ordeal as a woman beaten on a television set, died 10 days later burned alive by her husband. The affair upsets the opinion and a great reflection is conducted on the territory. Since then, many mechanisms have been put in place by the public authorities and have since appeared to bear fruit: some 76 cases of feminicide were recorded in 2008, compared to 47 in 2018 thanks to concrete measures.
>> To see: Spain, a pioneer in the fight against violence against women
In France, measures deemed insufficient
To halve the number of feminicides, Spain has, among other measures, set up 10,000 serious danger phones, which make it possible to join a support system with a special touch, when France only has one "And again, hundreds of them rest in drawers because some think they are not useful", regrets Floriane Volt, a volunteer of the Women's Foundation, in an interview with France 24.
Another deterrent measure is the wearing of the electronic remoteness bracelet. This system, which alerts police forces to the presence of spouses or former violent partners in a given area, has also helped to reduce the death rate of women in Spain. "France also uses this type of bracelet, recognizes Armelle Le Bras-Chopard, a political scientist and author of the book 'The Whores of the Devil, witch trials and construction of the modern state', but she has two times less than in Spain: it is quite insufficient. "
Finally, the Spanish authorities have put in place a comprehensive law with magistrates specialized in cases of domestic violence. "Professionals are better trained in this area and procedural deadlines are much shorter, which is important in this type of case," says Floriane Volt, "In Spain, if a woman withdraws her complaint, she is considered to be in danger because it is considered under control, victim of manipulation, and will be followed.In France, in this similar case, we let leave the complainant home.
Change of mentality
"There is a real dysfunction in the French judicial and police system, abounds Anne Bouillon, a lawyer specializing in women's rights in Nantes. Half of the complaints filed by women are refused by the judge. And often, the judge does not grant the order that allows a victim to benefit from protection under Article 515-9 of the Civil Code. While he acknowledges that the violence was committed, he often believes that the violence has not put the person at risk, or that the danger is not sufficient to warrant a protection order, which is completely paradoxical. It does not mean anything."
Finally, it remains to change mentalities. "In the 21st century, some people still believe that women are the property of men," says Armelle Le Bras-Chopard, "and this is not related to alcoholism. it must change".
Only good news on the blackboard, solutions exist to stem the scourge. All the leading associations on feminicide are unanimous on one point: the Grenelle of domestic violence must take into account the maximum number of actors and lead to concrete measures. "We do not want a conference, says the writer, there is urgency, we want actions and means".