In Marseille, the former home of a cocaine trafficker welcomes women victims of violence

On the heights of Marseille, Clémence* opens the gate of a pretty villa with her son Ethan*, two and a half years old. For a few weeks, they have both been living in this wonderful but secret place. They share it with two other women in what looks like a large shared apartment. The small terrace and the garden allow them to get together and talk about their shared past: all three were victims of criminal offences and needed to be sheltered quickly.

“On May 5, I filed a complaint for domestic violence against my partner,” Clémence confides shyly. After a few weeks in emergency accommodation, she was directed to this 140 m2 house, managed by two Marseille associations, Avad (Association for Assistance to Victims of Crime) and La Caravelle, which specializes in housing people in precarious situations.

Clémence and her roommates benefit from tailored support. “Once a week, a lawyer, a psychologist and a social worker come to meet them,” explains Marie Guillaume, director of Avad. The place – where they can stay for three months, renewable – and these meetings should allow them to lay the foundations for a new life.

Since the place, called Le Rebound, opened in November 2023, several dozen women have already been welcomed. Victims of domestic violence represent the majority. “But we also had a person who had lost her son in a homicide and who could no longer live in the neighborhood where the tragedy took place,” explains Marie Guillaume.

Managing criminal assets

On this Marseille hill, only Ethan’s agitation now disturbs the sound of the cicadas. A few months ago, however, the neighborhood had to deal with the parties organized by the former owner, indifferent to the disturbances caused by his party-loving friends and their big cars. During the day, the night owl turned into a cocaine trafficker. Enough to be able to buy this villa worth more than 400,000 euros. Finally caught by justice and sentenced by the Marseille court, the delinquent saw his house confiscated and handed over to Agrasc, the state institution responsible for managing assets confiscated from criminals.

“In September 2022, the Marseille prosecutor’s office called me to ask if I was interested in this house,” recalls Marie Guillaume. With her partner Christophe Magnan, from La Caravelle, she then wrote a file to obtain the rental of the house free of charge. Considering the price of the rent or the purchase of the building, it was impossible to have it without this legal boost.

Not to mention that the former dealer, before vacating the house, had trashed the interior. “Everything had been ripped out: the kitchen, the taps and the blinds,” says Christophe Magnan. Agrasc then took charge of the 80,000 euros of work: “This place is a revenge. The former owner sold death,” rejoices the director of La Caravelle.

A law set to expand

This procedure was made possible by a law passed in 2021, inspired by the one that has existed in Italy since the end of the 1990s to fight the mafia. This allows fraudulently acquired goods to be redistributed free of charge to associations, which would previously have been resold by the State for its own benefit. While the first steps of the law are welcomed, associations that fight against organized crime are calling for it to be expanded. Because, for the moment, only around ten properties on French territory are concerned.

In April, parliamentarians voted to make the confiscation of criminal assets related to offences involving more than one year of imprisonment mandatory. Automatically, the number of assets that can be made available to associations should increase.

In Marseille, Clémence’s stay has already been a success, as it has allowed her son to start toilet training in good conditions. “I now need to plan for the future, particularly for his schooling,” she adds. They are both due to leave Le Rebound soon to return to their old apartment. Her ex-partner is forbidden from approaching, but Clémence is going to have the locks changed.