Différence de genre et violences conjugales. A contrepied du paradigme féministe, une analyse de la criminalisation des femmes

摘要

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is unique among the types of criminal cases referred to the criminal justice system, both in the history of how it came to be recognised as a problem, and in the special role of mobilisation by feminists who steered this evolution and emergence. IPV seems to be fundamentally structured by gender differences and deeply stamped by a feminist interpretation. This article first highlights the arguments lending scientific legitimacy to the feminist approach. It then discusses its potential wayward tendencies, especially those that accentuate the gender aspect in intimate partner violence, marked by the victimisation of women and penalisation of men. In a counterpoint to the feminist interpretation, the article then analyses the criminalisation of women on the basis of statistical data on people suspected of IPV and referred to Belgian prosecutors in 2010. The data indicate that legal treatment is unequal depending on gender. This finding completes and also complicates the identification of possible wayward tendencies in the feminist paradigm. The resulting observation is highly modulated by a situation of reciprocal violence.%Les violences conjugales occupent une position toute particulière parmi l'ensemble des contentieux soumis à la justice, ceci tant au niveau de l'historique de leur prise en compte en tant que problème qu'au niveau du facteur particulier qui a présidé à cette émergence.