REPORTAGE
A battered woman who flees, forced to leave the house, sometimes with children. In the vast majority of cases, this is how it happens today in France for women victims of their spouse. But sometimes the opposite happens. Europe 1 has been able to report in Besançon, in one of those (too) rare structures that welcome not the victims, but the perpetrators of domestic violence.
"I hope I can find out why I got there"
A small building that offers studios and two-rooms. Enough to accommodate 15 people. Men housed to allow women and children to stay at home, like Alexander. Three months ago, he hit his wife. "She kicked me out because I did not pay the rent, I did not like it, I pushed open the door, I got a little upset and punched him. had the words too, "he says at the microphone of Europe 1." I regret, it's true that I was a little too far.Today, I'm doing a job and I unpacked a a big part of my life, for example, conjugal violence between my mom and my father-in-law when I was little, we wonder if I do not reproduce what I saw before. to know why I got there. "
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In France there is only a handful of places like this structure, financed by the State. The violent men arrive there forced by the decision of a magistrate, either after a condemnation, or pending their judgment. And the coaching is strict. "At 19 hours in the evening, they must be present," details Sébastien Girin, the device Otherness. "In the event of a breach, the prosecutor or the judge responsible for the enforcement of the sentence is immediately notified."
"Many had changed their look"
A psychologist and a social worker, Anouchka Vullo and Nadine Lacaille, also work here. Conduct individual interviews, but also organize speaking groups between residents. "A 19-year-old has made macho reflections," recalls the social worker. "And it amazed the whole group, who wondered how we could think of women in the 21st century." "What's good is that this image comes back to them," says the psychologist. "They think they finally did the same thing, and so the thoughts they gave to this kid, they could take them for them too."
The Besançon public prosecutor's office, and in particular the prosecutor Etienne Manteau, closely follows everything that happens in the structure. "When we see them at the hearing three or four months later, they say how much they were marked by the passage in this structure.I have seen several that had obviously changed their eyes," says the magistrate. Today, he "wants to believe that they are men who will not be seen again in a correctional court for conjugal violence".
In just under a year, 33 men have been cared for here. Returns would be "very good" for twenty of them. On the other hand, eight did not respect their commitments and returned to detention.