Elisabeth Moiron-Braud, Secretary General of the Interministerial Mission for the Protection of Women against Violence and the Fight against Human Trafficking (MIPROF), presented a report on domestic violence during confinement on July 29. This report of more than 80 pages on the effects of confinement on domestic violence that France Bleu procured, indicates that the confinement revealed facts of violence within the home, which did not exist before.
Rise in appeals for help and April and May
The 3919, the dedicated listening number, received 45,000 calls during the entire confinement period, from March 16 to May 10. The average per day? 800 phone calls. According to the platform’s charts, the months of April and May were marked by unprecedented peaks in calls for help. In April, 29,400 phone calls for domestic violence were received, against 9,700 in March, 8,400 in February…
That said, during containment, calls coming directly from victims tended to decrease. It was especially relatives (neighbors, colleagues, friends or even family) who contacted the help services: indirect reports were 24.9% in March and rose to 31.3% in April.
2,900 incidents of domestic violence recorded by the courts
116 006 is a number for victims of criminal offenses. If the reasons are diverse, the platform still underlined that requests for domestic violence were three times greater than in 2019 at the same period. Same observation on the side of the reporting platform for gender-based and sexual violence: the report of domestic violence has increased 17-fold compared to the previous year.
The ephemeral reception points set up in shopping centers and pharmacies, for their part, supported 412 women, 52 men and 33 children. The police had to intervene at home in many cases during confinement because of different family members, with an increase of 42% compared to 2019. All these records suggest that the confinement has revealed new facts of domestic violence. 2,900 facts of this type have been brought before the courts.
Domestic violence: medical confidentiality lifted in the event of “immediate danger”
In the event of immediate danger, doctors will no longer be bound by medical confidentiality for victims of domestic violence. In 2019, 149 women lost their lives as a result of violence inflicted by their spouses. “We cannot remain inert in the face of these human tragedies“, declared Elisabeth Moreno, Minister responsible for equality between men and women. The Assembly gave its approval to this bill of the Republic on the move, following the Grenelle of November 2019, informs AFP in a report picked up by Le Monde.fr.
For health professionals to report a victim of domestic violence, they will have to meet a number of criteria discussed last December. The victim will have to be “in immediate danger“, under the control of his spouse, and the report must be made to a”prosecutor dedicated to domestic violence“. In addition, accompanying measures will have to be put in place. medical personnel will be authorized to make this report, without the victim’s consent, but will not be forced to do so.
Harassment more severely punished
These conditions had been demanded by the National Council of Physicians. The main fear of medical staff is to see the trust between caregiver and patient broken by this bill. The objective of the proposal is to allow doctors “to be able to report a woman who may never come back alive“, according to the rapporteur of the Bérangère Couillard project.
The latter includes other measures. Especially for fight against harassment and domestic cyberviolence. If the harassment leads to suicide or attempted suicide, the prison sentence is increased to 10 years. The unauthorized geolocation of the spouse, as well as the violation of his electronic correspondence will also be punished. In addition, parental authority may be suspended by judicial control.
Read also:
- A Grenelle on domestic violence
- Violence within the couple: the recommendations of the HAS
