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What to do when you are beaten by your spouse ? Where to lodge a complaint, what are the procedures? What are the essential steps to follow to get out of this situation, and obtain compensation.
Domestic violence is punished whether it is physical , psychological or sexual. In France, the law protects victims. For example, a battered woman can stay at home with her children. These offenses concern married, divorced, separated, PACS or common-law couples.
DROP A HANDRAIL
It must be deposited at the gendarmerie or the police station closest to your home. This daybook allows you to date and classify this document in your file, but it does not allow you to trigger public action, so it does not allow you to evict your spouse from the home. On the other hand, it allows you to leave the marital home with the children without this constituting a fault afterwards. The fact of being subjected to violence justifies leaving the home.
FILE A COMPLAINT
You must go to the police station or the gendarmerie closest to your home, which will send you to the hospital to have your injuries confirmed by a medical certificate. The police station can then summon your violent partner and place him in custody. The prosecutor can then send him back to the criminal court.
OBTAIN THE DEPARTURE OF THE SPOUSE
You must contact the family court judge of the court in your place of residence and the court clerk will give you a date very soon to explain to the judge the violence of which you are the victim. The judge will make his decision very quickly or even immediately to exclude, if necessary, your spouse from the home. He can issue an emergency protection order.
NB: This order can be requested even without a complaint to the criminal justice system.
DEALING WITH SEPARATION
If it is an unmarried couple, you must contact the family court judge of your home court to issue an order fixing the residence of the children at the mother’s home, settling visitation rights and accommodation of the father and order the latter to pay alimony. In the case of a married couple, the beginning of the procedure is the same but the woman can ask her husband for a divorce. The woman can then claim a compensatory allowance and request the liquidation of the matrimonial rights of the spouses.
DELIVERY OF A “GREAT DANGER” TELEPHONE
The high-danger telephone is a specific telephone allowing a victim of domestic violence to contact a specialized platform directly in the event of danger. It is this platform that will alert the police or the gendarmerie if necessary. The victim can be geolocated if they wish. This telephone number is assigned by the prosecutor for a period of 6 months, renewable in the event of the violent spouse being removed. The device is intended for the most serious cases of domestic violence. The victim will also be monitored by an association designated by the prosecutor.
Consult the law firm in France or Luxembourg: https://www.damy-avocats.com/droit-de-la-famille
Société des Avocats DAMY, Victim of domestic violence: what to do?, Update 2022
