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

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.