each victim remains one too many victims

According to the annual report of the Ministry of Justice, 90 women were killed by their companion in 2020, against 146 in 2019. A decrease which gives hope, but which also proves that feminicides remain rooted in French culture.

"Every crime, every violence is a failure for our society, for our Ministry of Justice", declared the controversial Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti about feminicides in France, in a video posted on his Facebook account on Tuesday, February 2, 2021. In this face-to-face with his followers, the minister delivered the spousal crime figures committed last year. 90 women died from the blows of their spouses in 2020, a clear decrease (in 2019, 146 victims were counted). This figure had not been so low since 1995.

"This decrease is due to our society's view of this violence, it is due to the work of associations, it is also due to the means put in place by the ministry", welcomed the Keeper of the Seals. The decline in feminicides, which the government considers to be the fruit of its work, could above all be a logical effect of confinement, during which the surveillance of the population (and therefore, of violent men) has been increased drastically. It remains in any case very insufficient and should not mask the problem of patriarchal violence, which continues to claim victims every day.

Read also: How Laura, survivor of an attempted feminicide, became a fighter

A real drop, but not enough

If this drop, which made the headlines, is a source of hope, remember that a feminicide is one too many femicide. The 90 victims of 2020 are very real and they are no longer here to celebrate. "If we have seen a decline over the past year, we cannot be satisfied with 90 crimes that took the lives of innocent women, bereaved entire families and destroyed the lives of too many children, notes Élisabeth Moreno, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of Equality between Women and Men, contacted by aufeminin.

We will also notice that if the decline in feminicides is real, reports of domestic and intra-family violence have exploded. "The increase in reports of violence can be explained both by a greater freedom of speech by victims as well as by a greater notoriety of the different listening, alert and support systems on which the Government has strongly communicated since 2017, Élisabeth Moreno analysis, a fortiori during periods of confinement. The various pre-existing systems to the health crisis have been strengthened and accompanied by new measures which have all been made permanent ". Various devices were activated by the victims. During the first confinement, "Calls to 39 19 tripled from March to June 2020. During the second confinement, reports made on the Interior Ministry's platform 'gender-based and sexual violence' increased by 60%", explains Élisabeth Moreno, who also recalls "that during a period of confinement, a woman victim of domestic violence can flee her home without needing a certificate".

A national number for women victims of violence (conjugal, sexual, psychological, harassment, etc.) exists: 3919. It is completely free and anonymous. This number is managed by the National Federation of Solidarity Women (FNSF).