The shame or the shining: Covid-19’s trap of domestic violence in France and Russia

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Charlotte Gunka
Co-Chair, IBA Crimes against Women Subcommittee, Paris
charlotte.gunka@gmail.com

Maria Snitsar
Elève-Avocat, Paris Bar School, Paris
sn.maria@gmail.com

What if being forced to stay at home turned out to be hell? Although official national statistics are not yet available or accessible and may never be known for most countries, newspapers and social media all over the world have reported alarming surges in domestic violence during Covid-19 lockdowns. What are the grounds for this widespread trend? The situation can easily be explained by a series of factors common to France and Russia as well as to any other country: while it is easier for the aggressor to abuse their victim in a confined space, it becomes more difficult or even impossible for the victim to seek help when exit from home is restricted and assistance centres’ outreach is limited. Health and economic uncertainty behind the pandemic, chaos displayed in the media and promoted by politicians, people losing their jobs and looking for safe harbour in alcohol or drugs, medical and police services overwhelmed and unable to act efficiently… The crisis created by the fear of the Covid-19 has led to an unprecedented rise of private violence to which national authorities must acknowledge and react.

As highlighted in April 2020 by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, ‘The Ebola pandemic demonstrated that multiple forms of violence are exacerbated within crisis contexts, including trafficking, child marriage, and sexual exploitation and abuse. Covid-19 is likely driving similar trends at present.’^[1] In France, police and judicial authorities as well as dedicated services reported that they were flooded with complaints filed mostly by women and children. Meanwhile, in Russia, where there is no legal framework for domestic violence and trust in police services is quasi non-existent, the government has decided, for the first time, to raise awareness about family abuse.^[2] As a result, the Covid-19 pandemic has clearly reset some priorities in these two countries, with important and sometimes already long-debated legal and procedural measures finally being enforced, or at least contemplated, in reaction to the dramatic situation observed during the crisis.

France

Whereas tackling domestic violence has been a priority for the French government since 2019, women and children’s reports of abuse during the Covid-19 shutdown have reached an unprecedented level. In 2018, approximately 220,000 adult women in France were reported victims of physical and/or sexual violence by their spouses or ex-spouses.^[3] These figures increased by more than 30 per cent during the first week of the lockdown that began in mid-March 2020. Subsequently, more than 2,000 complaints for domestic violence were recorded by Police services from 6–12 April 2020,^[4] and there was an 89 per cent rise in reports made by children potentially abused, registered between 13–19 April 2020.^[5]

The French authorities were quick to react in response to this crisis by strengthening a number of legal measures.^[6] Some of these measures had been adopted before^[7] the Covid-19 pandemic by a circular of 9 May 2019 calling French prosecutors to ‘develop a real culture of protecting victims of domestic violence’,^[8] as well as a law passed on 28 December 2019,^[9] and were strengthened during the French lockdown:

• €1m was immediately devoted to the work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society for prevention and action against domestic violence.^[10]
• Inspired by the action undertaken by the Spanish government,^[11] France introduced special measures such as an alert system in high street chemists and the maintenance of emergency services in shopping centres.^[12]
• In a circular adopted on 25 March 2020,^[13] the French government clearly stated that domestic violence was considered an urgent matter in the context of the pandemic and warranted judicial and legal enforcement authorities to: (1) ensure that law enforcement agencies are instructed to exercise increased vigilance and tracking over reports of domestic abuse; and (2) put in place systematic home interventions following neighbourhood reports; (3) quickly implement appropriate protective measures, including by strengthening the use of the ‘telephone serious danger’^[14] and making sure that judges dedicated to family matters are able to issue emergency protective orders and pronounce the eviction of the violent spouse at all stages of the proceeding, including in the context of protective orders.
• The March 2020 circular also invited prosecutors to implement strong criminal procedures that permit, among others, the removal of the abusive spouse from any situation that could warrant it and force them to remain under custody during the entire period of the lockdown.
• A specific online training for judges and prosecutors on domestic violence, provided by experts in criminology, psychiatrists, psychologists and doctors, was otherwise made available to a wider audience of judges and lawyers.
• Finally, the Paris Bar Council has put in place a hotline to help the victims of domestic violence and daily newsletters were sent to all the members of the Paris bar with a summary of the latest Covid-19-related updates, notably regarding domestic abuse.

Following the end of the lockdown in France on 11 May 2020, the French government did not wait long to further amend the framework aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence. A draft law dedicated to the protection of victims of domestic violence, adopted by the French National Assembly in January 2020, was further confirmed by the French Senate in June 2020.^[15] This law aims at introducing a number of key changes, not only focused on domestic violence, but also on preventing child abuses beyond the family sphere. Proposed measures include: (1) the possibility for doctors to report facts of domestic abuses to prosecutors without violating professional secrecy duties, as well as for the victim to systematically obtain a doctor’s certificate; (2) the opportunity for judges to suspend parental visitation and accommodation rights during a criminal enquiry conducted against the violent parent subject to judicial oversight; (3) the strict prohibition of civil or penal mediation to settle matters of domestic violence; (4) the faculty for the police to confiscate weapons found at the suspected aggressor’s domicile; (5) more severe criminal sanctions for the aggressor who morally harasses to death her or his partner and records and/or conveys her or his geographic localisation without consent; and (6) automatic financial aid granted to victims of domestic violence who need urgent attorney’s advice.^[16] A new decree passed on 27 May 2020, however, was supposed to enhance the adoption and implementation of protective orders by French judges but has raised a number of criticisms, notably because it imposed heavier procedural and time conditions on the victims.^[17] Thanks to the civil society and the legal community, the controversial provisions of this decree should be overridden by the future law.^[18]

In the interim, a specific commission for women’s rights also regularly auditions experienced professionals, who share their views and methods to improve the prevention and repression of domestic violence in France. Some improvements are currently being discussed, such as: (1) the need to increase synergy between judges responsible for family matters and prosecutors; (2) the creation of prosecutors’ offices dedicated to pursue domestic violence cases; (3) the systematic follow-up and information of victims in the context of preliminary enquiries (ie, a ‘preliminary enquiry’ is a criminal procedure conducted by prosecutors together with police officers, which is kept secret from the potential defendant and the victim and may not necessarily lead to a prosecution of the accused); and (4) an extension of judicial financial aid for victims of domestic abuse.^[19]

Russia

The situation made of course no exception in Russia, where unprecedented surges of reported family abuse were also noticed during the pandemic. The number of recorded calls to the specific hotline for reports of domestic violence has risen by a quarter from the beginning of the lockdown imposed on 30 March 2020.^[20] In early May, Human Rights Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova declared that the number of cases of domestic violence has increased 2.5 times since the enforcement of the quarantine. More than 13,000 calls were registered in April against 6,000 in March.^[21]

That said, official statistics shared by the Russian government do not disclose the country’s real situation. Russia is known for its catastrophic administration of domestic violence of all types, notably physical and verbal abuse. There is no legal definition of domestic violence in Russia, which means that state statistics cannot reflect actual numbers since nobody agrees on the scope of the relevant behaviours. Raping a spouse, for example, is not considered a crime in Russia. After the depenalisation of domestic violence in 2017, a ‘first’ assault is now treated as an administrative offence and only repeated assaults may be considered as a criminal matter. To date, there is no specific law on domestic violence in Russia and no legally established mechanism available for authorities to impose protective measures, including social help and protective orders. The lockdown has left victims with practically no option for seeking assistance.

Before the Covid-19 outbreak, Russians had tried to address this situation with a highly controversial draft law on the prevention of domestic violence released in November 2019, which was subject to discussion within the Federation Council (ie, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament). Criticised for its ineffectiveness, the proposed legislation did nevertheless contain important changes such as a provision requiring domestic violence to move from private enforcement to public prosecution. But on 16 April 2020, Federation Council’s Speaker Valentina Matvienko announced that discussions over the new law were postponed until the end of the Coronavirus crisis, by declaring in a controversial statement that ‘I don't think there will be any outbreak of domestic violence, because families, on the opposite, are going through this difficult period together’.^[22] Unsurprisingly, the Russian Parliament’s optimistic vision did not reflect the reality of the country and Russian non-profit organisations have instead reported a high increase in requests for help by victims of domestic violence during the crisis.

Yet, in an unexpected move, the government commission for the prevention of crimes, headed by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, issued a resolution on 31 March 2020 containing important recommendations to regional entities:^[23]

• heads of regions were encouraged to consider supporting non-profit organisations to combat domestic violence and developing new crisis centres for women;
• regional authorities were asked to increase their activity by conducting – including on the internet – campaigns aimed at preventing domestic violence and promoting ‘a strong rejection of illegal behaviour in the family’;
• the Federal Ministry of the Interior was recommended to elaborate, by December 2020, an amendment to the rules of data recording related to domestic violence and on the results of police preventive activities; and
• the Ministry of Labour was charged with gathering and consolidating the experience of existing crisis centres for women and non-profit organisations that implement effective models for preventing domestic violence.

Another and very important instruction given by the government commission was that criminal proceedings (as a reminder, it is only after the second recorded incident of violence that the case becomes a criminal matter) could now be initiated without the need of a prior complaint by the victim. This measure is in line with the November 2019 draft law, which already proposed to bring these cases within the scope of public prosecution.

While the Russian government’s intentions are worthy of recognition, effective implementation of the recently introduced measures is still pending.^[24] In a country where there is no legislative framework for prevention of domestic violence, isolated measures cannot be implemented in a systematic and effective manner due to the absence of legal tools that could contribute to leverage them. The government commission's recommendations have in fact very limited legal value and cannot replace the adoption of a specific legislation on domestic violence. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus pandemic has postponed for an undetermined period any progress on the adoption of such law in Russia, which despite being so criticised, was still very much awaited. To date, at the state level, there is no effective protection for victims of domestic violence in Russia, which remains the only country-member of the Council of Europe that did not sign the Istanbul Convention^[25] and has no legislation on domestic violence.

Thoughts and recommendations

New technologies may have an increasing role to play in fighting domestic violence, including in countries where legal oversight over domestic violence is still limited. While the role of technology is controversial since it is often seen as promoting domestic abuse instead of curbing it,^[26] innovative solutions have emerged before and, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, deserve some attention. In an attempt to address this problem, a French activist created in 2015 the ‘App-Elles’ mobile application, which alerts people designated by the victim (eg, family or friends) of a dangerous situation in a number of discreet and secure ways, including through automatic sharing of GPS localisation and sound recording that can possibly be used in the event of a future legal proceeding.^[27] Similarly, the application ‘Hehope’ that was unveiled in 2019 enables confidential recording and storage of proofs of domestic abuse such as sounds, pictures or videos, which are unalterably and securely recorded on a blockchain.^[28] Furthermore, IBM has published in May 2020 a series of recommendation to help creating new apps that will promote victims’s access to new technologies for preventing domestic abuse, but at the same time preserve their confidentiality and security so as to avoid a detection by the aggressor.^[29]

Nevertheless, such innovative solutions can only be considered in countries where governments are seriously willing to fight family abuse. This may be the case for France, but it is not yet true in Russia where adopting a legislative framework on domestic violence remains a question mark. No country is immune to the issue of family rapes and mistreatments, there are only countries that choose to ignore the situation. Much like the Covid-19, domestic violence is a pandemic that requires to be tackled at its roots, notably by teaching tolerance values, gender equality and human rights at school from an early age, helping parents and grandparents to move from old patriarchal or matriarchal family schemes and raising constant awareness among key actors of the society (police, judicial, medical, education, politics, media, etc). What if in the post-Covid-19 world, tyranny and submission finally stop being praised? For our children and granchildren, it is worth a try.