In Bordeaux, domestic violence cases fill the immediate appearances

Curled up on the bench of the civil parties, on this day in early July, staring, weary and red with tears, the young woman recoils slightly at the mention by the president of the court of each blow struck by her companion . She is one of the many victims of domestic violence that justice sees passing daily.

In Bordeaux, a city bereaved by two feminicides in less than two months, more than half of the cases raised during the hearings for immediate appearance now concern “Violence by a person being or having been a spouse, cohabiting partner or partner linked to the victim by a civil partnership”. With, in mind, the question posed by the latest news items: how to prevent recidivism and prevent even more serious tragedies?

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As a general preamble to his requisitions for imprisonment, the deputy public prosecutor, Olivier Etienne, makes a scathing observation. “For five years, the fight against domestic violence has been a priority. It is even now a super priority. With each court decision, we take a risk. We don’t have a crystal ball. We cannot refer to an infallible expert to determine whether a person will understand his problem and the personalized measure that the justice is trying to take or if upon leaving the courtroom or prison, he will reoffend . Some are impervious to court decisions. Each choice of sanction is a bet. ” And to continue, about the defendants. “You would think that, after two feminicides in the city, the man would think twice before carrying the first slap, he continues. Well no. It’s as if nothing had happened for six months, for ten years, as if we had remained in the days of the caveman who considers his wife as something over which he has a right to life and death. It is not for the victims to be afraid, but for the accused to be put in a situation where he can no longer be afraid. “

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Watch the court, only the court

The defendants follow one another in the box. A nonchalant 28-year-old man, sweater tied on his shoulders, is asked to remove his hands from his pockets. He hit his ex-partner before attempting to set fire to his vehicle and his home which smelled strongly of gasoline when the gendarmes from Ambarès-et-Lagrave (Gironde) arrived. His lawyer, Me Florence Herbold, contests the portrait of her client, which she considers caricature, time obliges: “We are presented with a domestic violence gift package. “

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