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Domestic violence: the response of the Gironde after the feminicide of Mérignac

2022-12-19T13:35:13.521Z


Specialized police and gendarmerie services, daily monitoring, accelerated legal proceedings… The department has boosted its system for combating domestic violence (VIF) in recent months.


Le Figaro Bordeaux

The Gironde is still healing its wounds after the feminicide of Chahinez Daoud, shot and burned alive in Mérignac by her husband * on May 4, 2021. Particularly “

awful

” by its modus operandi, the drama caused “

an institutional earthquake

”.

Main challenge: to tighten communication between the prefecture, the Departmental Directorate of Public Security (DDSP), the Departmental Grouping of Gendarmerie of the Gironde and the judicial court (TIJ) of Bordeaux which have a piece of the puzzle in each case.

Until 2021, I say it very honestly, this network was deficient and far from being mature

“, admits the divisional commissioner Éric Krust, deputy departmental director at the DDSP.

In addition to their daily interactions, these players and the associations involved now meet every three months.

"

Traumatized

" by the tragedy that took place on their territory, the DDSP of Gironde has reformed.

Since August 2021, the number of investigators assigned to domestic violence (VIF) has doubled.

45 police officers are specifically trained in the reception of victims and the follow-up of their cases, 80% of which relate to acts of domestic violence.

At the same time, the psychosocial center (PPS), which in 2018 was managed by an officer whose "

it was not even the permanent task

", was placed under the responsibility of a referent commissioner, assisted by a psychologist, a social worker and two officers in permanent contact with the associations.

Read alsoDomestic violence: 208,000 victims recorded in 2021 in France, up 21%

Increase in complaints of domestic violence in Gironde

A “

professionalization

” which is accompanied by increased vigilance in assessing the danger.

Each file is potentially a social bomb,

” underlines the divisional commissioner, Éric Krust.

Another officer is therefore responsible for “

reading the intervention reports every morning in order to detect weak signals

”.

A necessary lookout: since the Mérignac feminicide, reported cases of FIV are constantly increasing in Gironde.

While the DDSP recorded around a hundred cases per month in 2021, in 2022 250 to 275 procedures are opened in the same period of time.

At the Gironde Departmental Gendarmerie Group, which has seven Personal Attack Cells (CAPE) commissioned from 2020, the situation is identical.

An average of 292 VIF per month is recorded for 2022, while 136 files were processed for the same period in 2019. An increase in particular favored by a new listening method developed by the military.

Covering a vast rural territory, the soldiers of the CAPe now move “

to neutral places with the complicity of shopping centers or town halls

” in order to allow the victims to slip away discreetly from their homes.

A new mode of action which however shows its limits.

"

Most often, you have to go back and print the report and organize a second meeting with the victim so that he can sign it

", reveals squadron leader Sébastien Andrieu, deputy gendarme officer in command in charge of partnerships and of prevention.

A logistically costly round trip that creates a time gap during which “

the victim's adherence

” to reporting can change.

However, it is impossible to use the electronic signature with the Bordeaux TIJ, whose digital criminal procedure (PPN) is under development.

Everything is still done on paper.

"

An audit must be launched in January by the Ministry of Justice due to major network and server difficulties

, ”explains Frédérique Porterie, public prosecutor.

Read alsoGironde: "Ask Angela", the device against street harassment, extended around Bordeaux

Transformed victim support

Since November 23, 2022, a taxi agreement financed by the prefecture to the tune of 2,000 euros has also simplified the journey of victims.

It allows the police to order races within a radius of 15 kilometers around Bordeaux in order to take them to the emergency reception center for victims of aggression (Cauva) for their medical examination or to one of the 218 emergency accommodation places in the department.

For lack of means of transport, some victims previously spent the night at the police station.

A situation “

unbearable especially when there are children

”, underlines the deputy director of the DDSP.

If the associative fabric recognizes "

an obvious awareness of the institutions

" on the treatment of domestic violence, it also reports the inconsistencies of the judicial system.

There are still judges who consider that a violent husband can be a good father

”, explains Mélanie Maunoury, director of the Center reception consultation sexuality information (CACIS) of the Gironde.

Thus, some defendants convicted of domestic violence still have parental authority.

This implies "

that they always have a means of pressure on the victim via their children

", denounces the one who is also responsible for the Maison d'Ella, a secure place which carries out the psycho-traumatic follow-up of people who have suffered VIFs.

Read alsoNew measures to combat incest and sexual violence against children

Justice “on the lookout” which acts “in an emergency”

Whether or not the withdrawal of parental authority depends on the family affairs judge (JAF), on the correctional aspect of domestic violence, the Bordeaux prosecutor's office is struggling to act quickly.

In 2022, the criminal response rate of the Bordeaux TIJ on these cases is thus 98% between January 1 and October 31, 2022. Figure also on the rise, 2815 complaints and reports of judicial inquiries (established by the security forces). l'ordre, NDLR) were dealt with by the legal service assigned to the VIF concerning adults.

Whether the police investigation lasts 24 hours or six months, the notified return of the prosecution is always immediate.

46% of cases get a quick response with a judgment period that can range from one day to two months.

Alternatives to lawsuits (35%) are processed within 15 days.

As for summonses from the judicial police (COPJ), the judgment of which takes place within 4 to 6 months, they only represent 6% of our processing routes

,” explains Frédérique Porterie, public prosecutor at the TIJ in Bordeaux.

Although strengthened by the recent arrival of a legal assistant and the appointment of two lead magistrates, the service remains undersized.

I see my teams getting exhausted and constantly on the lookout,

says the public prosecutor.

"

To respond to the general increase in delinquency and acts of violence in Bordeaux, I will need at least three additional people

”.

To amplify the detection of domestic violence, the Bordeaux TIJ, the police and associations also continue to explore “

information sources

” such as neighbors.

On November 24, 2022, an agreement was thus signed between the Bordeaux prosecutor's office and the order of doctors of Gironde.

It aims to promote preventive information derogating from medical secrecy.

Doctors and dentists were also approached.

* Indicted for intentional homicide, Mounir Boutaa, is presumed innocent until his judgment.

Since May 2021, he has been in pre-trial detention in Agen (Lot-et-Garonne).

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-12-19

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