The dark figure: 100,000 women victims of domestic violence in Haute-Garonne

The figure, supported for 4 years by the Departmental Observatory of Violence Against Women, chills the blood. 100,000 women are or have been victims of physical or sexual violence within the couple in Haute-Garonne.

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Shocking figures

During a 2022 survey of staff at the department's solidarity centers, the teams estimated the proportion of women monitored as victims of domestic violence to be between 10 and 15%, “i.e. 3,000 women who mention it spontaneously” notes Sandrine Floureusses, vice president. -president of the Departmental Council. Since 2022, three feminicides per year, on average, have plunged the department into mourning. These alarming thresholds were highlighted during its fourth inter-professional day, Thursday November 28 at the Toulouse police academy.

This meeting, co-managed by the prefecture and the Departmental Council, brought together various actors: police officers, psychologists and other professionals involved in the fight against domestic violence. Divisional Commissioner Florence Petiot, director of the police academy, highlighted the evolution of training: “We are working much better on the emotional care of victims, with psychologists who intervene in our training.”

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A note of hope

The statistics, although worrying, also reflect a progressive liberation of speech. In 2023, more than 3,900 complaints of domestic violence were filed in the department, an increase of 5% compared to 2022. “This figure is increasing, but it also reflects the fact that victims dare to speak more,” commented Houda Vernhet, sub-prefect of Haute-Garonne.

Present during the event, Roxana Maracineanu, secretary general of the Interministerial Mission for the Protection of Women (Miprof), brought a note of hope, “the figure of feminicides is starting to fall in France”, but she added, ” we remain on a black figure because we have decided to take into account forced suicides and attempted forced suicides as well as attempted feminicides” explained the former Minister of Sports to better reflect the reality of violence.