It’s been more than a year since anti-reconciliation bracelets were imposed in Quebec to protect victims of domestic violence.
However, a man from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, accused of domestic violence, was able to approach his victim, despite the fact that he was wearing an anti-reconciliation bracelet.
On September 9, the offender was able to approach his victim, without triggering the alarm that would normally alert the authorities.
The concern of organizations and shelters for women victims of domestic violence is that we still do not know why the bracelet went missing.
“It’s worrying for the victims,” said Cathy Allen, a shelter coordinator. “On the other hand, what we do know is that this is an isolated event.”
In addition, Quebec authorities are conducting an investigation to understand what allowed him to keep the bracelet.
The anti-reconciliation bracelet has two parts that can be geolocated and interact with each other through the cellular network.
The victim has an application on his cell phone that allows him to follow the offender’s movements at all times.
“Since the deployment of the anti-reconciliation bracelets, it has been a deterrent and it seems to be working well,” said Ms. Allen. “We are convinced that we have a lot of expertise to prevent this from happening again.”
Between April 1 and July 31, 2023, the monitoring center intervened 155 times after being alerted. Seven of these connections required police intervention.
