Women and children first - The tribulations of a feminist lawyer

After the month of November 2022, which saw a flurry of symposia and declarations of intent to "combat violence against women", here's some (less than glorious) news from the front.

NB: A complete feminist analysis of the law is needed, I agree. Until political will and financial means are gathered, I propose as below, regular vignettes.

Sandra has been victim of domestic violence committed by her partner who was intoxicated and under the influence of drugs.

She managed to flee, find an apartment to take refuge in and she went to file a complaint. (Bravo)

Specialized" police officers received her and took her complaint. They then referred her to a non profit for the protection of victims of domestic violence. (Bravo)

Then... the police told her that the procedure would be carried out by the police station where the facts were committed to which the procedure would be transmitted.

Sandra's lawyer makes enquiries: yes, the procedure has been transmitted, says one police station; no, it hasn't been received, says the other.

To obtain this information, the lawyer called the various teams, and when she didn't get an answering machine, the person told her she couldn't answer. She sent e-mails to the relevant department, but got no response. Determined, she goes out and finally gets the information. She knows that "nobody knows where this procedure is". Good.

In the meantime...

the victim was sent to the UMJ to have her physical injuries assessed (Bravo). Except that there were no more marks. On the other hand, the doctor noted that it was "necessary" to assess the "psychological impact" of the violence committed against Sandra.

The respondent quietly goes on with his life by sending threatening messages to the victim through third parties.

Months ago, 9-year-old Charles explained to his psychologist that his dad, Matt, was touching his sex in front of him and encouraging him to do the same.

The psychologist made a report to the CRIP (Bravo) and informed Carla, the child's mother.

Carla filed a criminal complaint and the child was heard.

In the child's interest, Carla asked the family court judge to allow Charles and his father to meet in a parent/child meeting place. The family court judge granted her request (Bravo).

After Matt's hearing by the police department, Carla received a call from the police department telling her that the complaint had been "dismissed" by the district attorney.

She did not get any written information about this.

Carla's lawyer immediately went to court to obtain a copy of the criminal proceedings.

At the criminal office, the clerk's office told the lawyer that the case was "still under investigation" and to "come back later. The lawyer informed the clerk's office that apparently the prosecutor had closed the case. The clerk's office confirmed that it did not have this information.

The lawyer has multiplied the requests for a copy of the criminal file (written delivered to the clerk's office in person, registered letter, fax, e-mail), has gone every month (now 3 months) to the criminal office. The requests remain without answer, the clerk's office always answers "the procedure is under investigation".

In the meantime...

Matt went to court to have Charles' domiciled fixed every other week between his father and mother.

And the civil courts will ask to be informed of the content of the criminal procedure...

Charles continues to benefit from therapeutic follow-up - fortunately.