94. This is the number of women killed by their spouse or ex-spouse in 2023. Although this figure is down almost 20% compared to the previous year, it remains “very far from being satisfactory”. said Tuesday the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, in the Figaro. And to clarify: “We know that fighting this scourge takes time. (…) But the commitment of the French justice system to stem feminicides is still bearing its first fruits. » Since the launch in 2006 of the annual study on violent deaths within couples, the country has never fallen below the symbolic bar of 100 femicides. Once, only once, has France come close: in 2020, 102 women were killed by their spouse or ex-spouse, but this year marked by Covid-19 and confinements was not considered representative.
This figure of 94 was, however, quickly denounced by several associations, deeming it underestimated. The collective Féminicides by companions or ex, which relies on press articles, has thus recorded 102 marital murders in 2023. For its part, the association #NousToutes recorded 134 murders of women linked to their gender, including 97 in a marital context. If the ministry recognizes that these are “provisional data”, it estimates that the difference with the final figures will be “ultra minimal”. In 2022, the provisional toll stood at 113, and the final count showed 118 femicides. “This data covers the entire year 2023 but there may be criminal reclassifications,” we specify at Place Vendôme. Cases which were not, initially, considered as feminicides can thus be reclassified as such over the course of the investigations (for example, a murder disguised as an accident).
“This deployment probably saved a number of lives”
Despite these differences, the counters are all going down. “We cannot be satisfied with these figures, they are obviously far too many, but we see that the measures deployed in recent years are starting to bear fruit,” insist those around the minister. Since 2019 and the Grenelle on domestic violence, notable developments have been noted. If the protection order – which allows violent spouses to be kept away – has existed since 2010, its application has developed significantly in recent years. In 2022, 3,586 prescriptions were issued, compared to 1,392 in 2017. Above all, they are issued on average in six days, compared to 42 five years ago. Working groups are underway to make it possible to take these prescriptions within 24 hours in the event of an extreme emergency.
Likewise, in 2019, only 300 “serious danger telephones” – which allow the authorities to be alerted as quickly as possible – were allocated, compared to 3,556 in 2022. An increase of 471% in three years. “This deployment probably made it possible to save a certain number of lives,” insists this same source. In 2022, there were 2,555 interventions by the police after a call for help, compared to 1,185 in 2020. If the associations note real progress, they point out that this remains three times less than in Spain – a leading country. in the fight against violence against women – and call for relaxing the conditions of attribution.
New generation anti-reconciliation bracelets
Beyond better application of existing devices, the Grenelle also allowed the deployment of a device requested for years by players in the sector: the anti-reconciliation bracelet. 1,850 women have benefited from it since it was put into service in 2021 and currently, just over a thousand bracelets are active. Thus, in 2022, despite a few hiccups particularly linked to battery problems, 3,634 interventions by law enforcement took place. And Eric Dupond-Moretti is already promising the arrival of a new generation of bracelets, more discreet and with better autonomy.
The first days of 2024, however, remind us that the fight against violence against women is far from over. Since January 1, associations have recorded two new victims: in New Caledonia, a 29-year-old mother killed in the street whose partner is still wanted and a 62-year-old woman shot dead with a rifle in Tarn-et- Garonne.