- LREM member for Val-d'Oise Fiona Lazaar presented this Tuesday to the delegation for women's rights in the National Assembly a report on the use of the term "feminicide".
- After several hearings with associations, magistrates and legal professionals, the elected representative considers that the inclusion of the word "feminicide" in the Criminal Code and the creation of an autonomous offense present risks for the victims and their relatives.
- However, it calls for a generalization of the term, including among judges in training.
For months, the word has appeared on the streets of several major cities in France. Long used only in militant circles, the term "feminicide" has gradually imposed itself in public debate. Galvanized by the Grenelle on domestic violence, associations engaged in the fight against violence against women are now demanding its inclusion in the Penal Code.
In an attempt to respond to this request and to assess its effectiveness, LREM MP for Val-d'Oise Fiona Lazaar interviewed many actors. The elected member of Val-d'Oise presented on Tuesday the conclusions of her report to the delegation for women's rights in the National Assembly. If the deputy pleads for a generalization and a wide dissemination of the term, she opposes its entry into the Criminal Code. For 20 Minutes, she details her recommendations.
Why did you decide to conduct this report on the recognition of the term "feminicide"?
It is a societal debate and the question of the inclusion of "feminicide" in the Penal Code was brought up by several players in the voluntary sector. In France, this term has only recently become known. Previously, it was mainly used by feminist activists and, little by little, thanks to their mobilization and that of the press, which used this word, we began to name feminicides. Then, this term entered into political language and even into the mouth of the Head of State who used it in the UN gallery saying that it was necessary to give legal status to this type of crime.
For all these reasons, I considered that it was necessary to examine the question. So I led a “flash” mission since the beginning of the year and interviewed legal professionals, a historian of law and violence against women, associations like Dare Feminism! or UN Women, representatives of the ministries concerned or the Syndicat de la magistrature.
What does the report you presented this Tuesday to the delegation for women's rights recommend?
What emerges from all these hearings is that there is a strong desire to see this term more used and at all levels of society: political, media, institutional. On the other hand, there are, in my opinion, several obstacles to the inclusion of the word "feminicide" in the Criminal Code. Brakes but also real risks for the victims and the families of the victims. It is a false good idea.
What I advocate is to use this word and to recognize it institutionally. To use this term is to understand the systemic nature of violence against women. The symbolic character is very important and it is a way of putting the subject back into public debate. Seeing, for example, a prosecutor using this term in her requisitions is something very important and we hope that it will be more integrated into the training of judges.
Why would the inclusion of this term in the Penal Code, on the other hand, be counterproductive?
Feminicides are crimes which may be accompanied by aggravating circumstances already provided for by law and which may lead to a conviction for the maximum sentence. If one decides to include this term as a stand-alone offense, there is a real risk: that of not being able to prove that it is a crime on grounds of gender and therefore of acquitting the accused. 'individual prosecuted. It would be terrible for the relatives of the victims.
The other obstacle raised in particular by the CNCDH (National Consultative Commission for Human Rights) is that of the universality of the law. By enshrining feminicide in law, the Commission is concerned that this would amount to distinguishing a homicide committed by a man committed against a woman from another homicide and creating, somewhere, a sort of hierarchy. There was a real risk of unconstitutionality and that went against the human rights convention.
The #CNCDH was also interviewed by @fionalazaar. She recalled her opposition to the inclusion of the term # feminicide in the penal code, in the name of the universalism of #right and equality for all before the law. Opinion on #violencesdesesesfemmes.
👉 https://t.co/yJg31iaZMg https://t.co/8SHrliI4NV
The National Union of Feminicide Families (UNFF) expressed its disappointment on BFMTV this Wednesday and underlines that the aggravating circumstance already existing in our law when a woman is killed because of her gender is still too little retained. What do you say to them?
I will receive them, it is very important for me to explain the conclusions of this information report to them and tell them why I made these arbitrations. Next, what we see on this specific point raised by the UNFF is that if the aggravating circumstance on grounds of gender is not always retained, it is often because another aggravating circumstance has been. For example, when the death blows were taken by the spouse. However, our law does not allow the combination of aggravating circumstances.
Is there not a form of contradiction in wanting to disseminate the term "feminicide" as widely as possible, including to judges, while refusing to include it in the law?
No, precisely, it's a question of balance. It is a very powerful term but I believe that inclusion in the law could weaken the victims. However, the struggle continues and I have formulated a motion for a resolution [a non-binding text] which I have already tabled. I obtained the agreement of the group office to carry this resolution in order to encourage the use of the term "feminicide" in France in all spheres of society. As Simone de Beauvoir said: to name is to unveil and to unveil is already to act.
Society
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