Essentially to the detriment of women, the number of sexual and domestic violence reported has never been so high but the overwhelming majority of reports are closed without follow-up due to lack of evidence, notes a study published Wednesday. Between 2012 and 2021, this violence represented around one million cases, or 4% of all criminal cases completed over the period, according to this study by the Institute of Public Policy (IPP).
Acts of harassment in particular are increasingly denounced, even if they only represent 4% of cases (a third concerns sexual violence, 62% of which are sexual assaults, especially against minors), according to data taken from the system Cassiopeia used for entering, recording and processing criminal justice records.
Also read: More than 220 sexual offenses per day on the street, at school, at work
This increase coincides with the context of the #MeToo wave in 2017, the Grenelle on domestic violence two years later and the distribution of numerous circulars intended for magistrates, underlines the author of the study, Maëlle Stricot.
86% classification without action for sexual violence
But as for most criminal offenses, the rate of dismissal of complaints by the prosecution is considerable between 2012 and 2021: 86% for sexual violence, 72% for domestic violence. The motive, however, is not necessarily linked to the fact that the perpetrator is unknown but to the lack of evidence and the fact that this violence is, according to the magistrates,
“insufficiently characterized”
. This classification decision concerns in particular more than one in two rape cases received by public prosecutors, according to the study.
While public authorities encourage victims to file complaints,
“the legal treatment that follows constitutes a major issue for public policy
,” underlines Maëlle Stricot. Only 14% of suspects involved in cases of sexual violence are tried and among them 13% are found guilty (27% for perpetrators of domestic violence).
Also read: Sexual violence on public transport on the rise
The study also underlines that if the rate of dismissals fell between 2016 and 2020 for domestic violence, it on the contrary increased for sexual violence. This could be explained by an increase in reports of incidents which are old, and therefore more complicated to prove and therefore to pursue, suggests the study. This observation also raises the question of human and financial resources as well as training to deal with the increase in complaints.
The study also illustrates a more severe penal response for perpetrators of domestic violence, with sentences increasing from 5.4 months on average in 2012 to 8 months in 2021. This worsening of sanctions can be attributed, according to the author, to rapid procedures such as immediate appearances,
“generally associated with heavier sentences”
. For cases of sexual harassment, the sentences handed down are on average 6.8 months, 19.6 months for sexual assault and 29.6 months for rape.