Domestic Violence
Verified 27 April 2021 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Justice
Domestic violence is punishable by law, whether against a man or a woman, whether physical, psychological or sexual. This is violence committed within married, former or common-law couples. If you are a victim and you report, you can be helped and protected. You can benefit from assistance and protection regardless of your nationality and regardless of the length of your stay in France.
Types of violence
Domestic violence may be violence
- psychological (psychological harassment, insults, threats)
- physical (assault and battery)
- sexual (rape, touching)
- or economic (deprivation of financial resources and continued dependence).
Links between the author and his victim
Spousal violence occurs when the victim and perpetrator are in a sentimental relationship. They may be married, cohabiting, or past. Facts are also punished, even if the couple is divorced, separated or has broken Civil partnerships.
Alert the police and gendarmerie by phone
If the person you live with in a relationship is subjecting you to domestic violence or threatening to do so, you can alert the police or gendarmerie.
By telephone
To call the police or gendarmerie in France urgently, you must dial the 17.
If there is no emergency, you must call your police station or gendarmerie brigade.
Who shall I contact
- Emergency Police - 17
By telephone
Dial 17 in the event of an emergency involving a road accident, a breach of public order or a criminal offense. A team of police or gendarmes will be on hand.
You can also dial the 112.
If the situation is not an emergency, call your local police or gendarmerie.
By SMS
You can also send a free SMS to the 114. If you are unable to speak (danger, disability), you will then contact your correspondent in writing.
To call the police or gendarmerie urgently at one of the European Union countries, you have to dial the 112.
Who shall I contact
- European emergency number - 112
112
Emergency number to be used for a call from a European country or from a mobile phone
24/7
Free call
These numbers should only be used in case of emergency, where rapid intervention is necessary. You should not use them to report a crime that has occurred several days before for example.
By SMS
If you have trouble hearing or speaking, you can also send a text message to the 114. You will then contact your correspondent in writing.
Who shall I contact
- Deaf and hard of hearing emergency number - 114
By SMS at 114
Free 24/7 access
Via the emergency mobile application 114 or the website www.urgence114.fr
Free 24/7 access
Contact possible via:
- Video telephony: I communicate in sign language
- Chat: I communicate in writing
- Voice / Return text: I speak and 114 responds to me in writing (or vice versa)
This number should only be used in case of an emergency, where rapid intervention is necessary. You should not use it to report a crime that happened several days before for example.
Alert emergency services
You can also alert the Samu or the fire brigade if you need urgent medical attention following domestic violence.
Who shall I contact
- Samu - 15
For medical emergencies
By telephone
15
Free call from landline and mobile in Metropolitan France and Overseas
Works 24/7
Who shall I contact
- Firefighters - 18
By telephone
Dial 18 in the event of an emergency involving a fire, a motor vehicle accident, a domestic accident, an explosion or release of toxic gases or vapors, a person at risk, drowning or flooding.
From a mobile phone, dial 112.
An instant messenger (chat) allows you to chat with a police officer or a member of the gendarmerie. Chat history can be deleted from your computer, mobile phone or tablet at any time.
The perpetrator of domestic violence may be forced by the authorities to leave the home. The law allows for the eviction of an abusive spouse or common-law partner.
The victim, if he or she so wishes, may also leave the home.
To avoid being blamed for this departure, you can submit a handrail at the police station or gendarmerie brigade. Being subjected to domestic violence may justify leaving the home.
Emergency accommodation
You can call Social Samu for help if you have had to leave your home as a result of domestic violence.
Who shall I contact
- Social Samu - 115
Homelessness Emergency and Reception Number
By telephone
115 (free from landline and mobile in metropolitan France and overseas)
Open from Monday to Sunday and operating 24 hours a day
FYI
curfew you can apply for emergency housing to avoid staying in the same house as your abuser during the period of the lockdown or confinement.
Conservation of family housing
Occupancy of the family home must be attributed to the spouse who is the victim of the violence, even if emergency accommodation has been granted. However, the judge may decide not to attribute the occupation of the family home to the spouse who is the victim of the violence, but he must issue an order setting out the reasons for this choice.
Relocation
If you have protection order, you can benefit from the support of specialized associations to find a home. These associations can sublet you furnished or unfurnished accommodation that they rent from HLM organizations. Depending on your situation, you can have facilities for the payment of the deposit and the first months of rent.
If you are a victim of domestic violence, you can go to a hospital, doctor or midwife (if you are a woman). Medical findings will be useful in trying the perpetrator.
Who shall I contact
Who shall I contact
Who shall I contact
The health professional shall be subject to medical confidentiality.
As a victim of domestic violence, you can contact the following organizations:
- 3919, specialized department on violence against women
- Association du Réseau France Victimes, via the number 116 006 Victims
- Women's Rights Information Center
- The Victim-Journey site, which guides you through each step
Who shall I contact
- Violence Women Info - 3919
Listen, inform and refer women victims of violence, and witnesses to such violence.
Addresses physical, verbal, or psychological abuse, at home or at work, and abuse of any kind (including sexual harassment, assault, and rape).
Does not deal with emergencies (it is not a police or gendarmerie service).
For other types of violence, 3919 provides a first-level response and directs or transfers to a useful number.
By telephone
39,19 (free call from a landline or mobile phone in metropolitan and DOM)
Open 24/7
Anonymous call
Call not on phone bills
Who shall I contact
- 116 006 - Victim Assistance Number
Listen, inform and advise victims of crime and their families.
By telephone
116,006
Free call
Open 7 days a week from 9am to 7pm
The service can also be accessed by calling the +33 (0)1 80 52 33 76 (Normal pricing number).
By email
victimes@france-victimes.fr
If you decide to go to court, you can be assisted by a lawyer. Its costs may be covered under certain conditions in the context of legal aid. You can also contact the Victims' Office for assistance in completing the legal proceedings.
Who shall I contact
For the perpetrator of the domestic violence you suffered to be prosecuted, and to be convicted for his act, you must complain.
In case of violence, you have 6 years to file a complaint.
On the spot
You must go to a police station or a gendarme brigade of your choice.
You may not be refused the receipt of the complaint.
The complaint is then forwarded to the public prosecutor by the police or gendarmerie.
By mail
You can file a complaint with the public prosecutor.
We need to send a free-form letter the court of law of the place of the offense or of the domicile of the offender.
Who shall I contact
The letter should specify the following:
- Your marital status and full contact information (address and telephone number)
- Detailed account of the facts, date and place of the offense
- Name of the alleged perpetrator if known (otherwise, the complaint will be filed against X)
- Names and addresses of any witnesses to the offense
- Description and provisional or definitive estimate of the damage
- Evidence: medical certificates, work stoppages, miscellaneous invoices, findings ...
- Willingness to take civil action
File a complaint with the public prosecutor
Who shall I contact
You can send your complaint by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, by simple letter or by letter followed.
You can also file your complaint directly at the courthouse.
In any case, a receipt is given to you as soon as the Public Prosecutor's Office has registered your complaint.
FYI
if the police or gendarmerie refuse to take your domestic violence complaint, you can alert the competent control authorities.
Submit online to the Inspectorate General of the National Police
Contact the Inspectorate General of the National Gendarmerie online
Purpose of the protection order
If you are a victim of domestic violence, you can apply to the Family Court for a protection order. You can do this even if you do not live in cohabitation with the perpetrator.
In case of danger to you or your children, this judge can issue an emergency protection order, even if you have not yet filed a criminal complaint. The protection order is intended to prevent the perpetrator from approaching you and your children.
Procedure
The application for a protection order must be made by application to the family court responsible for your domicile.
Application to the Family Court Judge: Issuance of a protection order
You can attach to the application all the evidence of the violence suffered: medical certificates, photo of injuries, testimonies...
Who shall I contact
The Family Court Judge must make an order setting the date for the hearing. The decision must be rendered within 6 days of the date of the hearing.
If you are assisted by a lawyer, you must transmit by the Commissioner of Justice (formerly bailiff and judicial auctioneer) the order fixing the date of the hearing and the request to the alleged perpetrator, within 2 days. The costs of the Commissioners of Justice shall be borne by the State.
If you are not assisted by a lawyer, the registry must forward the order setting the hearing date to the alleged perpetrator.
The judge may also decide to inform the alleged perpetrator of the violence of the date of the hearing by any means he deems necessary.
Decision
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Favorable decision
The protection order may prohibit the perpetrator from contacting or approaching you, at your home, workplace, or elsewhere.
If you wish, and the perpetrator agrees, the judge can decide that each of you 2 wears an electronic bracelet. It helps to ensure that the perpetrator does not approach you below a certain distance.
If the perpetrator opposes this measure, the judge must inform the public prosecutor. The judge who issues a protection order may also order the prohibition of the right to detain or bear arms of the perpetrator of the violence. But if they don't consider doing that, they have to justify their position in the protection order.
The judge may also offer the perpetrator health, social or psychological care, or follow a course of prevention against violence. If the perpetrator refuses this offer, the judge must inform the public prosecutor.
The judge shall also rule on the common residence of spouses, former spouses or common-law partners. You can thus ask to remain in your residence, the enjoyment of the dwelling being in principle attributed to the victim. The perpetrator must then leave the common home within the time limit set by the judge. It may be forced to continue to provide financial support for the common housing.
If you have children in common, the judge must also rule on the exercise of parental authority and rights of access and accommodation. It may order that the right of access of the perpetrator of the violence be exercised in a meeting place or in the presence of a trusted third party. If it does not do so, even though it has prohibited the perpetrator from contacting you, it must justify its position in the protection order.
The measures contained in the protection order are taken for a period of 6 months and may be extended.
If you have filed a complaint, the removal of the abusive spouse can be ordered as part of a judicial review. However, the criminal justice system cannot decide, at this stage, on the withdrawal of parental authority.
FYI
if you have received a protection order, you can apply for the early release of your salary savings.
Unfavorable decision
If the application for a protection order is rejected, the judge may set another hearing to decide on the other applications. For example, the exercise of parental authority and the contribution to the child's maintenance and education costs.
The intimate partner bracelet is used to protect you as a victim of intimate partner violence by preventing your abusive spouse or former spouse from coming into physical contact with you.
When it is put in place, the bracelet allows you to geolocate your spouse or ex-spouse.
An alert system will be triggered when your spouse or former spouse approaches you.
A warning is then issued, and law enforcement can intervene if he continues to approach where you are.
The scheme may be implemented in criminal proceedings or in civil proceedings.
The decision has to be made by a judge.
Use in criminal matters
In criminal matters, the decision to install an anti-rapprochement bracelet can be taken before or after the judgment of the person suspected of domestic violence.
Before the judgment, the measure may be taken by the investigating judge or by the judge of liberty and detention, in the context of a judicial review.
After the judgment, the measure can be taken only if the person suspected of domestic violence has been found guilty of the offense. The measure is then taken as a sentence, or as a sentencing adjustment.
Use in civil matters
In civil matters, the decision to install an anti-rapprochement bracelet can be made by the family judge to whom you have requested a protection order. The judge will make the decision if he or she believes you are in danger, but your spouse or former spouse must give their consent. If he refuses, the judge may refer the matter to the parquet floor so that the measure may be taken in the context of criminal proceedings.
The great danger telephone is a dedicated phone that allows a victim of domestic violence to contact a specialized platform directly in case of danger. It is this platform that will alert the police or gendarmerie if necessary. The victim can be geolocated if she wishes.
This telephone is assigned by the prosecutor in case of expulsion of the abusive spouse by court order, or in case of grave and imminent danger where the perpetrator has not yet been arrested or tried. The scheme is aimed at the most serious cases of domestic violence. The telephone is given for a renewable period of 6 months.
The victim will also be followed by an association designated by the prosecutor.
The decision on whether or not to grant the high-risk telephone is made by the Public Prosecutor. You can make the request directly to the public prosecutor's office, or to the police or gendarmes who will forward it to the public prosecutor's office.
Who shall I contact
Alternative measures to prosecution
In the case of minor and isolated acts of violence, the public prosecutor may decide not to prosecute the author before a court.
The prosecutor may then take the following measures, for example:
- Penal composition
- Reminder of the law
- Awareness training for preventing and combating violence within the couple (carried out by the perpetrator at his own expense)
- Criminal mediation if the victim agrees
Criminal punishment for physical violence
The penalties for domestic violence depend on the number of days of total incapacity for work (ITT) that the violence has caused for the victim.
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ITT less than or equal to 8 days
Domestic violence resulting in total incapacity for work (ITT) of up to 8 days or days which have not led to ITT shall be punished by 3 years in prison and €45,000 of fine.
ITT greater than 8 days
Whether the violence resulted in an ITT greater than 8 days, the maximum penalty is 5 years in prison and €75,000 of fine.
If domestic violence is frequent, it can be described as habitual violence. The maximum penalty is then:
- 5 years in prison and €75,000fine, in case of ITT less than or equal to 8 days,
- 10 years in prison and 150,000 fine for ITTs above 8 days.
In the case of violence which has resulted in death without the intention to do so, the penalty shall be:
- 20 years in prison, if the death was caused by a single case of violence,
- 30 years in prison, if the death was caused by repeated violence.
In the case of murder or attempted murder (if the perpetrator deliberately intended to kill the victim), the penalty is life imprisonment.
Criminal punishment for psychological violence
Violence of any kind, including psychological violence, is punishable by law.
In the case of psychological harassment within the couple, if the acts did not result in any incapacity for work or if they resulted in an ITT of less than or equal to 8 days, the maximum penalty is:
- 3 years in prison,
- and €45,000 of fine.
Criminal punishment for sexual violence
Rape and other sexual assaults are characterized by the non-consent of the victim, regardless of the nature of the relationship between the victim and the attacker. This is why rape can occur even if the victim and the abuser are married.
In the case of rape within a couple, the maximum penalty is 20 years in prison.
In cases of sexual assault other than rape, the penalties are 7 years imprisonment and €100,000 of fine.
Absence of survivor's pension
A person found guilty of domestic violence or a crime against his spouse by a court must be deprived of the right to benefit from the survivor's pension of the latter.
A decision to exclude a person from receiving a survivor's pension must be made automatically by the court which judges the case of spousal violence or crime against a spouse.
However, the court or tribunal may exceptionally decide not to grant such an exclusion.
In this case, the court or tribunal must state in its decision the reasons for this choice, which may for example be linked to the circumstances of the offense or to the personality of the convicted person.
- Civil Code: Articles 515-9 to 515-13Issuance of a protection order
- Penal Code: Articles 222-7 to 222-16-3Physical violence
- Penal Code: Articles 222-33-2 to 222-33-2-2Psychological harassment
- Penal Code: Articles 222-22 to 222-22-2Sexual violence
- Penal Code: Articles 222-23 to 222-26Rape
- Penal Code: Articles 222-27 to 222-31Sexual assaults other than rape
- Circular No. 2014/0130/C16 on combating violence within the couple (PDF - 1.2 MB)
- Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence
FAQ
- Victim assistance Ministry of the Interior
- Practical Guide to the Protection OrderMinistry of Justice
- Victims' journeys (physical, sexual or psychological violence)Ministry of Justice
- Tool to help identify domestic violenceMinistry of Health