The National Assembly voted unanimously on Monday, January 16, for a bill aimed at creating universal emergency financial assistance for victims of domestic violence. The aid scale, modulated according to needs, must be specified by decree. The objective is to allow victims to seek shelter as quickly as possible, without financial dependence.
READ ALSO > “She leaves him, he kills her” : here is the typical scenario of feminicide
The deputies took up and modified a proposal by the centrist senator Valérie Létard, also voted unanimously by the upper house in October at first reading. Deputies and senators should agree without difficulty on a final text for final adoption in the coming weeks, then promulgation within a maximum of nine months.
No more “false start”
With this help, “the first start” of the hearth should no longer be “a false start”, underlined Minister Isabelle Rome, in charge of gender equality. Because currently, victims under “Empowered or financially dependent sometimes have no choice but to go back to square one, behind closed doors with their attackers”she lamented.
The deputies supported a government amendment to be able to pay this aid in the form of a donation and not just an interest-free loan as the Senate had voted. This financial support will be conditional on a protection order, the filing of a complaint or a report addressed to the public prosecutor. At least part of it must be paid within three days.
Femicide: “We don’t talk about it that much anymore, don’t you think? »
When aid is granted in the form of a loan, its reimbursement will be the responsibility of the person found guilty of violence, where applicable, with an additional penalty. “reimbursement obligation”.
Against the advice of the government, the Assembly adopted an amendment by ecologist Sandrine Rousseau to create a multi-year law on funding for the fight against violence against women. His fate is however uncertain during the continuation of the parliamentary shuttle.
Unanimity
Inspired by an experiment in the Nord department, the bill received unanimous support. The deputies of the National Rally had initially tried to take it up in their parliamentary niche, a day dedicated to their texts on January 12.
But the Conference of Presidents of the Assembly, which brings together President of the Assembly, leaders of political groups and committees in particular, decided to include this transpartisan subject during a “Assembly Week”, started on Monday. The RN did not oppose it. An RN deputy, Emmanuel Taché de la Pagerie was co-rapporteur, with the elected representative of the independent group Liot Béatrice Descamps.
Isabelle Rome: “I refuse the political instrumentalization of sexist and sexual violence, which is too serious”
The Ministry of the Interior identified 207,743 victims of domestic violence in France in 2021, mainly women. 122 were killed by their spouse or ex-spouse that same year, according to the ministry.
