The Foundation of Women offers several avenues to reduce the cost of procedures, in particular, the removal of the “consignment” required to build up civilian part.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
Lawyer fees, expertise fees or bailiff fees: “Request justice is not free” for women victims of sexual violence, denounces a study published Thursday, November 24 by the Women’s Foundation, which offers several avenues to reduce the cost of procedures.
“No, three times no, victims of sexual violence do not file a complaint for money,” asserts in this report the president of the Foundation, Anne-Cécile Mailfert. On the contrary, “their approach is often done at the cost of increased financial and psychological vulnerability”, she adds.
Especially since “to speak, file a complaint and pay significant sums to request justice are (…) in any way the guarantees of obtaining it”, observe Lucile Peytavin and Lucile Quillet, the two authors of the study, Published on the eve of the International Day to Combat Violence against Women.
The report takes for example the fictitious case of Julie, a Parisian victim of rape, who after seven years of procedure fails to have her attacker sentenced – “as in the vast majority of cases”. In fact, according to the window Last investigation to victimize the INSEE , only 0.6 % of rape or attempted rape gave rise to a conviction in 2020.
Julie will therefore have spent in vain nearly 8,500 euros for her legal procedures, including 6,000 euros in lawyers, according to the calculations of the authors. And that, not to mention the cost of its psychological follow -up.
The victims must also pay several hundred euros in bailiff fees to bring together evidence of the facts they denounce. 2>
revaluation of the scale of legal aid
The report recommends the abolition, in cases of sexual violence, of the “consignment” required to build civil party: this sum, comparable to a deposit and intended to dissuade abusive complaints, generally reaches 1,500 to 3,000 euros.
Another recommendation: the revaluation of the scale of legal aid paid by the State to the litigants to take charge, partially or completely, their lawyers. This scale, which takes into account the applicant’s income, is currently “one of the lowest in Europe”.
It would also be necessary to “deconjugalize” the criteria for the allocation of this aid, “for married and Pacs women to be deprived of them and placed in a situation of economic dependence on their spouse” , support the authors.