Domestic Abuse in France
Macron pledged to ameliorate the horrendous situation regarding femicide in France. He has collected data and implemented measures, but has it made a difference?
Femicide. Murdering women on account of their gender. By estimate, every 11 minutes, a woman is killed in her own home. In 2021, 56% of murders of women (81,000), were carried out by an intimate family member or partner.
In 2018, France had the second highest femicide rate in the EU. As a core part of his administration, President Macron decided to address this problem. In September 2019, the government launched the ‘Grenelle des violences conjugales’, pledging 360 million euros towards tackling the issue. They promised 2,000 new places in emergency shelters for victims, the training of 90,000 police officers, bringing into use 1,000 electronic bracelets, and the extension of the emergency helpline to 24/7. So, they made the promises, as all good governments do, and in 2020, the number of femicides in France was 90 - the lowest in 15 years. On the other hand, feminists at the time argued that at least 1 billion euros was necessary to properly combat the issue. Of the 1,000 bracelets deployed, 78 have been administered. Furthermore, murdered sex workers are not included in the official count. Clearly, the government did not do enough to address this issue which should not exist. But then again, every government has countless issues to grapple with, and Covid added yet another one to the list. Thus, I will examine a couple the measures they were able to implement, and the use of the money they did spend.
Firstly, the electronic bracelets. These are devices fitted with GPS-tracking technology, used to monitor the location of sex offenders, triggering an alert when he approaches a former victim. If he does not turn back, the police are called. A study carried out in 2016, by the University of Malaga in Spain, stated that the tags were able to dissuade attackers from coming close to victims, and made victims feel safer. However, the group ‘Feminicides par compagnons ou ex’ claimed that in the frequent case of abusers being determined to kill and then commit suicide, the bracelet proves useless. The bracelets certainly serve a function, partly preventative, and also as a method of collecting data to assess reoffending rates, and the efficacy of other strategies. However, they are not nearly enough to prevent reoffending, and should be used as an additional, rather than a primary measure.
Secondly, the training of the police officers. It consisted of a day of giving police officers the proper tools to deal with cases of domestic abuse, and help the victims to the best of their ability. This was aimed at combatting the frequent issue of police not taking victims seriously, and victims having to repeat the same story multiple times to be heard. It is often common for victims to back up and claim that it’s ‘not serious’, thus police officers need to be skilled in gaining their confidence and persisting until they know how they can best help each individual victim. Coaching by a psychologist throughout their foundational police training is therefore essential. However, the training given as a result of the government Grenelle consisted of a single day - wholly insufficient to fight underlying misogynistic culture in certain groups of officers, and not enough training to equip them with the precise skills needed to deal with domestic abuse.
Thus we can conclude that more must, and can be done. The 2022 statistics have seen a rise following the pandemic, with inter-familial violence increasing by 17%. The interior ministry in France has claimed that this is due to more support for victims, encouraging more to speak up, and so distorting the figures. But more calls for help should not be viewed as simply a product of a better system. Instead, they should be seen as opportunities to for the government to improve their support for each victim, and ensure that they are never abused again.
Bibliography:
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