Is there more sexual violence in Paris, or more women who dare to testify?

The number of complaints of sexual violence filed in Paris has increased by 30% compared to 2021, announced Thursday the public prosecutor of Paris Laure Beccuau on France Info.

“We must be clear, the number of complaints for sexual violence is on the rise, if I believe the latest elements communicated by the judicial police”, commented Laure Beccuau.

“It is an increase which is estimated at 30% compared to last year.

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Four complaints a day

This increase in complaints "can have two sources, an objective increase in facts but also an increase linked to the freedom of speech", according to the head of the public prosecutor's office in Paris.

Is this the result of the #MeToo movement?

“Yes,” she replied.



The summer was marked by several high-profile rapes or sexual assaults in the capital, and the daily

Le Parisien

recently reported that nearly four rape complaints had been recorded there every day since the beginning of the year.

A device against cyber surveillance

For the prosecutor, "the reactivity at the judicial level is there".

"The road ahead seems immense, but there are successes in protecting victims," ​​she insisted.

In the range of means available, “the electronic bracelets are there”, notably underlined Laure Beccuau, while associations believe that they are not deployed quickly enough.

According to the magistrate, they can present difficulties in dense agglomerations like Paris because "victims and perpetrators are in close proximity" and therefore they can "have frequent triggers", "sources of stress".

"That's why we have deployed serious danger telephones", currently 48 in number available to the Paris prosecutor's office.

“It is something that we are developing and for which the endowments are increasing,” assured Beccuau.

The prosecutor also pointed out the existence of a system developed in Paris which makes it possible to check whether a telephone is "infected or monitored" by a spouse, for example in the event of separation or harassment.

According to her, it should be deployed on a large scale soon in police stations or victim support associations in the capital.


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  • Paris

  • Ile-de-France

  • Sexual violence

  • Violence against women

  • Domestic violence

  • Complaint

  • Justice