In 2022, there will be around 244,000 victims of domestic violence registered by law enforcement, the Ministry of the Interior said on Thursday 16 November. This corresponds to an increase of 15% compared to 2021, one figure “close to the average annual rate of change observed since 2019” according to the Ministerial Statistical Service for Internal Security (SSMSI).
Women, overrepresented among the victims
“In a context of freedom of speech and improvement in the reception conditions for victims by the police and gendarmerie services”, the number of victims reporting violence by their partner or ex-partner has increased “doubled compared to 2016”analyzes the SSMSI in a press release.
The vast majority of registered victims are women (87%). Conversely, in 89% of cases the defendants are men. Only one in four victims filed a complaint, again according to data from Place Beauvau.
Qualifiable figures, according to the ministry, for which the latter does not“does not directly take into account the evolution of delinquency ”, because the propensity to file a complaint “it depends both on the nature of the crime and the context in which it was committed” and of “the evolution of behavior in society”in particular “protective or sanctioning measures implemented”. Therefore, some facts can “Never get reported or get reported later”claims the SSMSI, which estimates that only a quarter of victims file a complaint.
Over a third of the complaints involve physical violence
This estimate is based on a comparison between the reported facts and the “victimization surveys”, carried out on large panels representative of the population.
The rate of victims reporting is higher for physical violence (34%) and moral harassment (26%), but lower for sexual violence within a couple (10%). Excluding the filing of a complaint, two thirds of the violence reported is of a physical nature, 30% of a verbal or psychological nature (which includes moral harassment, threats, invasions of privacy or insults and defamation) and 5% concerns sexual violence. Three quarters of the victims are between 20 and 45 years old, the most affected age group is 30-34 years old which represents 17% of the victims.
“As in 2021, Seine-Saint-Denis, Guyana, Pas-de-Calais, Nord and Réunion are the departments with the highest recorded rate of victims per 1,000 inhabitants aged between 15 and 64”, says the ministry, which also notes that in 2022, 145 domestic homicides were recorded in France, of which 118 were feminicides. Four fewer than in 2021, according to a report released in early September.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, or if you simply want to learn more about the topic:
- 3919 and the government website Let’s stop THE violence
- Our practical article My boyfriend hit me: how to react, what to do when you are a victim of violence in your relationship?
- The association Forward and its help chat available on How do we love each other?
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
