État des lieux de la recherche en France concernant la prise en charge des auteurs de violences conjugales en lien avec l’évolution des politiques publiques

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to report on the current state of research into the perpetrators of intimate partner violence in France in relation to changes in public policy. In France, 22% of women aged 15–49 who are married or are in a relationship have been subjected to physical or sexual violence by their intimate partner. If we also take into account psychological violence, this figure rises to almost 60%. The fight against intimate partner violence has been gathering more and more impetus in France over the last ten years. The first Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) was adopted in 2011, and the first country-specific recommendations were made in 2015. Intimate partner violence became a major undertaking of the first five-year term (2017–2022) of the French President of the Republic. In September 2019, his government launched the “Grenelle” of fighting against intimate partner violence, which aimed to identify improvements in the implementation of previous initiatives and to transform professional practices. Included among the measures taken after the “Grenelle”, was the creation of Centers for perpetrators of intimate partner violence (“Centres de prise en charge des auteurs de violences conjugale”: CPCA), and their implementation in 2020–2021 marked a real turning point, at a time when the care of perpetrators had previously received little attention from public policy in France. Other measures will follow, notably those recently introduced in order to better deal with family violence in the courts. Evaluation of these policies shows that there is still considerable room for improvement, but there is currently momentum for further progress, with a clear desire displayed for public authorities to step up their efforts. The primary objective of the CPCA is to stop intimate partner violence and reoffending from happening again. However, they were set up without any standards having been established, e.g. in terms of theoretical references or intervention approaches, as is the case in other countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada) where the adoption of standards of practice has been gradual over 20 or 30 years. The lack of systematic risk assessment procedures for intimate partner violence in France can also be noted. In the same vein, this work provides an overview of research into the perpetrators of intimate partner violence in France. It reports on national statistical and demographic surveys, and on research in sociology, law, prison administration and the medical-psychological field. Scientific research focusing on the perpetrators of intimate partner in France is rare in psychiatry and the humanities and social sciences. Finally, a research project entitled “A portrait of practices with perpetrators of intimate partner violence and their impact: a case study of 7 to 8 centers which take care of them” funded by the French Ministry for gender equality, diversity and equal opportunities (2023–2024), is presented.