AURÉLIE, ELDERLY 50; Justine, 20 years old; Martine, 64 years old; Safia, 35; Denise, 58; Monique, 72; Aminata, 31 years old. The names on the placards, carried by tens of thousands of protesters on the streets of Paris and other cities on November 23, were those of women murdered by their partner in France so far this year. Strangled, stabbed, suffocated, shot or beaten to death, the victims now amount to 138 people. The sinister phenomenon, which activists call feminicide, has long been underreported and poorly managed in France. The government now recognizes the country’s “collective failure” in this area.
France holds one of the worst records in EU for the results of the women murdered by their partners. In 2017, the last year for which comparative data exist, 108 women were killed in such circumstances in France, compared to 92 two years earlier. Germany has experienced worse, with 153 such murders in 2017, but the record in both countries is much worse than in Britain (75) or Italy (56). In France, they represent more than 10% of murders each year. In the past, as if to excuse them, these murders were often treated crimes of passion. Today, campaign groups want to spread the word that these are really untold murders.
Although French women only got the vote in 1944, France has come a long way since when it comes to women’s rights. Most recently, it passed legislation to promote more women on boards and in elections. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, France has become more sensitive to what constitutes harassment and sexual assault. However, the country has had a blind spot when it comes to handling domestic violence complaints. On March 3 of this year, for example, Julie Douib, 35, mother of two, was shot dead by her partner. (He is now awaiting trial for his murder.) Before her death, she had filed five domestic violence complaints with the police, according to her father, Lucien Douib, who has since become an activist against feminicide. His case is not atypical.
Pushed by such activists and by a vigorous equality minister, Marlène Schiappa, the government has just completed a consultation on domestic violence. On November 25, Edouard Philippe, the Prime Minister, concluded that this had made it possible to “break this chain of silence” and to denounce “indifference”, “major dysfunction” and “systematic underestimation” of the problem in France. An overwhelming report commissioned by the Ministry of Justice reveals that two-thirds of the murdered women have been victims of previous acts of domestic violence. In September, President Emmanuel Macron heard the dysfunction first-hand when he sat down, anonymously, when calling an emergency hotline.
Mr. Philippe has just promised a series of measures to try to guarantee better detection and prevention of domestic violence in France. These include training police to handle complaints, opening more shelters for women, improving liaison between different parts of the justice system and, possibly, relaxing the rules on medical confidentiality in certain cases. . “Silence kills,” said Philippe this week, adding that “the attitude of an entire society must be changed”.■
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the title “De sang-froid”