Paris - The French government is drawing up a law that will sharpen punishment for those found guilty of domestic violence, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Wednesday. The new law will include penalties for "psychological violence" and will make forced marriages a crime, Fillon said during an address commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The fight against violence to women is "the great national task" of 2010, the French prime minister said.
Over the past two years, some 675,000 acts of violence against women, by their partners or a family member, were registered in France. In 2008 alone, 156 women were killed by their partners nationwide.
The bill is scheduled to be voted into law in early 2010. It may include a provision that repeat offenders be made to wear an electronic bracelet that would allow police to keep track of their movements.
