Feminicides: 102 women killed in 2020, Darmanin announces new measures
The French Minister of the Interior, during a press conference at the Élysée Palace in Paris on April 28, 2021. AP - Gonzalo Fuentes
Text by: RFI Follow
6 mins
More than a hundred women lost their lives in 2020 to the blows of their spouse or ex-spouse.
The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin detailed Sunday evening August 1 in a long interview with the
Parisian
a series of measures intended to fight against this scourge.
Publicity
Read more
In France, a woman dies every three days under the blows of her spouse or ex-spouse, recalls
Olivier Chermann
, head of the France service of RFI. The results of 2020, a year marked by “
two confinements
”, underlines the Minister of the Interior, is certainly “
at the lowest
” for 15 years: 102 women lost their lives last year against
146 feminicides in 2019
. But according to Gérald Darmanin, the number of police and gendarmerie interventions for intra-family violence remains very high: more than 400,000, or 45 interventions per hour. Not a day goes by without the GIGN or the Raid going to free a woman or children taken hostage. This violence, notes the minister, “
are becoming the main reason for intervention by police and gendarmes
”.
Specialized teams
To fight against this scourge, the Minister of the Interior has made several announcements.
Starting with the priority handling of complaints.
Each department will be equipped with teams specializing in the fight against domestic violence.
In addition, in each police station or each brigade, an officer specializing in this field will be responsible for the proper monitoring of files.
To cope with an increased number of procedures (193,000 last year), Gérald Darmanin promises to promote the recruitment of judicial police officers.
Currently, there are 17,000 in the national police: the minister wants to increase these numbers by 25%.
►
To read also: Associations of aid to women ask for the generalization of the "feminicide protocol"
Fire arms
The tenant of Place Beauvau also recalls that the instruction given to the police and gendarmes is to report to the prosecutor, the objective being that 100% of the findings turn into a complaint or report.
In addition, concerning the firearms by which a third of women die, the Minister wants the file of people implicated for intra-marital violence to be connected to those of owners of weapons and bans on port, and that the police “
systematically
”
consult them
.
"
This will make it possible,
he says,
to verify whether a defendant
" for such acts of violence "
is in possession of a weapon and therefore to withdraw it from him, without even the testimony of his spouse
".
Burned alive in the street
Gérald Darmanin also draws the lessons of the femicide of Mérignac, on May 4, particularly atrocious, for which he had requested an inspection mission.
The report found a multitude of misconduct that led to Chahinez, 31, being burned alive in the street by her ex-partner, after he shot her in the legs to bring her down.
The Minister of the Interior then asked the inspection mission for a new report to identify the responsibilities.
Handed over to the Prime Minister last week, it has not been made public.
While Le
Canard Enchaîné
revealed that a police officer who took one of Chahinez's complaints had himself been convicted of domestic violence and was awaiting a visit to the disciplinary council, the minister qualified this situation "
unacceptable
" .
He announced that he had asked the boss of the national police to seize the IGPN, the “police force”, which will have to submit its report in six weeks.
The minister also asks that the disciplinary councils meet "
within three months at most
" in this type of case and that the police officer concerned is "no
longer in contact with the public
" pending a decision by the council.
►
Also to listen: France: street collages against feminicides, an integral part of the city
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
France
Gerald Darmanin
Women
Rights of the child
On the same subject
France report
Women's aid associations demand the generalization of the "feminicide protocol"
Domestic violence: increase in the number of feminicides in France in 2019
France report
France: street collages against feminicides are an integral part of the city