2023-11-25 10:00:10
Year after year, the figure is increasing. In 2022, 244,156 victims of domestic violence filed complaints, according to a report published on November 16 by the Ministry of the Interior, i.e. 15% more than in 2021 and twice as many as in 2016.
Is this increase in complaints synonymous with an increase in violence or better care for victims? Why do the authorities still consider that only a quarter of victims file complaints today? On the occasion of the International Day Against Violence Against Women, Saturday November 25, Les Décoders takes stock.
Why has the number of complaints continued to increase since 2016?
Two thirds of complaints for domestic violence recorded by the police and gendarmerie services in 2022 concern physical violence. The vast majority of victims are women (86%) and the perpetrators are overwhelmingly men (87%). These proportions have barely changed from one year to the next.
“We are not in an outbreak of violence but of course an outbreak of complaints”, explains Anne-Cécile Mailfert, president of the Women’s Foundation. The freedom of speech since the #metoo movement at the end of 2017, the work of associations, the various government campaigns on the subject and the improvement of reception conditions in police stations have contributed to this marked increase in complaints. “There has been a profound change in society, a general awarenessbelieves Ms. Mailfert. More women are opening their eyes to their condition, putting words to the violence they suffer and are better aware of the procedures. »
Since August 2021, the Ministry of the Interior has asked police officers and gendarmes to “definitely proscribe” handrails in cases of domestic violence for the benefit of complaints, so that the prosecutor is systematically aware of it. Unlike a complaint, the handrail is in principle not transmitted to the prosecutor since it is not intended to initiate proceedings against the author of the acts – who is not, moreover, informed of it.
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However, the president of the Women’s Foundation regrets that the means and legal procedures have not evolved in parallel with the increase in complaints and denounces “a funnel effect” : “There are twice as many complaints in six years but there are not twice as many investigators or judges. Mathematically, there are fewer resources per victim than before. As a result, there are more and more cases being closed because it is impossible to investigate all these complaints. »
According to a report on the judicial treatment of domestic violence presented in May to Matignon by MP Emilie Chandler (Renaissance) and Senator Dominique Vérien (Union of Democrats and Independents), dismissals of domestic violence cases remained largely in the majority in 2021. The prosecution can justify dismissal of cases of domestic violence by the “non-prosecutable” nature of the case (absent or poorly characterized offense), by the inadvisability of prosecution (withdrawal or failure of the complainant) or even because an alternative to prosecution has been decided (very often reminders to the law).
In recent years, however, the share of prosecutions of people accused of domestic violence has increased slightly, from 31% in 2017 to 36% in 2021.
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How can we estimate the number of victims who do not file a complaint?
The Ministry of the Interior estimates that only one in four victims of domestic violence report the events they have suffered to the security services. This figure comes from the Genese victimization survey conducted in 2021 by the ministerial statistical service for internal security.
The survey, carried out on a large panel representative of the French population, was based on a “retrospective questionnaire”, which made it possible to understand different types of violence that people may have been confronted with during their lives, within from their family or outside.
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Victims of physical or sexual violence at the hands of their partner were thus questioned about the steps they had taken to talk about the facts they had suffered. In 2021, 69% of women victims of this violence said they had already spoken to a loved one about their situation, but a minority said they had turned to professionals.
Is it linked to fear, shame, a bad reception from the police? Only 25% had made a report to the police or gendarmerie. The figure was barely higher (27%) for those who said they had spoken to health or social services and only 14% of them had contacted a support service or victim support association. Overall, 38% of female victims had taken one of these three steps. A proportion which increased slightly when the violence was repeated (49%).
In total, the Genese survey estimated that in 2021 3.6 million women aged 18 to 74 (i.e. 15.9% of women in this age group) had suffered at least once since the age of 15 years of physical or sexual violence committed by a partner.
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