Paris (AFP)

When he was not drinking, "it was a cream". "The children loved him, he played football with them, made them cakes ...", testifies Maeva who suffered eight years of violence from his alcoholic companion.

"He tried to stop the alcohol, then started again, it was endless," said the woman AFP 59, whose first name has been changed.

Alcohol is "the missing absentee" of the Grenelle against domestic violence lament a Collective of relatives of alcoholic patients (CoPMA) and addiction specialists by calling for measures of prevention and care, Monday in two open letters to the government.

"Alcohol is a major causal factor of violence against women", note the signatories who believe that it alters the capacity of self-control, increases the impulsiveness, the aggressiveness and also decreases the capacities of defense of the victims

The analysis of violent couple deaths that occurred in 2018, and more specifically the 121 feminicides, published by the victim assistance delegation, shows that in 55% of cases at least one of the two, perpetrator or victim, is under the influence of a substance (alcohol, narcotics, etc.).

Maeva describes what she experienced when alcohol comes in: her companion, "adorable when he was not drinking," can then throw the bed out of the window, break the computer, knock her out at night, Forcing him to sleep in the car.

One day, he gets mad at his job demanding that she leave the office. Only armored windows stop it ... Complaint is filed.

Police, "good people" came regularly, continues Maeva. "Sometimes he was put in a sobering cell so I could sleep."

"The friends said to me: + leave it, you're better than that + but I did not want it (...) The friends leave you, the family turns their backs to you.I felt abandoned," says she, evoking the depression of her companion, alcohol-drug mixtures.

- Obligation to care -

"One time he grabbed me by the throat, where I thought, I'm going to die, I told him + I love you +, his hand was loosed, I ran away."

Then, he was no longer allowed to approach her home, but she kept in touch. He will eventually commit suicide.

In their letter to the authorities, the experts cite a study which showed, according to the newspapers held for fifteen months by women who had already suffered violence, that the risk of physical aggression was multiplied by eight on days when the man drinking.

"Among women living in a relationship with a dependent consumer, the risk of experiencing violence is three times higher than in the general population," explains one of the signatories, Professor Michel Reynaud, President of the Equity Addictions Fund, on the based on a synthesis of studies covering 80,000 people.

If it is not the only factor involved in these dramas, it is a very common element, "massive", and "especially avoidable" on which the public authorities can act, adds this doctor.

The associations demand the application of a duty of care by the justice, a plan of support to the caregivers of alcoholic patients as well as a national campaign of information on the repercussions of the alcoholic disease on the entourage.

The creation of a register of violence related to alcohol and psychotropic drugs (with their systematic dosages) and the precise analysis of the role of these consumptions in feminicides are recommended to better understand the extent of the phenomenon.

Specialists are also calling for the reinforcement of proven actions against alcohol abuse.

For example, in Australia, a reduction of one hour and thirty minutes of opening bars at night was accompanied by a reduction of more than one third of all types of violence, says Pr. Laurent Bègue, expert psycho -sociologist.

Another study in Brazil shows a 44% drop in homicides after the introduction of a closing time at 11:00 pm at take-out stores.

© 2019 AFP