Tag:

France

France’s Public Transport: A “Train” of Sexual Violence That Won’t Stop

by faeze mohammadi March 12, 2025

In the past decade, France has witnessed an alarming 86% increase in sexual violence victims on its public transportation, with women overwhelmingly bearing the brunt of this disturbing trend. Despite governmental efforts, public spaces—especially public transport—remain hostile environments for women.
France’s ongoing battle against sexual violence on public transport is far from over, as the latest government-sponsored report reveals troubling statistics. According to data compiled by Miprof, a government body tasked with tracking gender-based violence, the number of sexual violence victims on trains, metros, and buses across the country surged to 3,374 cases in 2024. This is a 6% increase from 2023 and a 9% rise from 2022.
The Île-de-France region, which includes Paris and its surrounding areas, is particularly affected, with 44% of all reported cases occurring there. Alarmingly, 91% of the victims are women, with two-thirds under the age of 30. Of these women, 36% are minors. And while the number of perpetrators remains unchanged, a staggering 99% of them are men.
This trend is not merely an isolated incident but a reflection of a larger, deeply ingrained culture of sexism. According to Roxana Maracineanu, Secretary General of Miprof, “Public spaces, and particularly public transport networks, remain places where women are exposed to sexist and sexual violence as soon as they enter them.”
The study also included data from a 2022 survey conducted by the Enov Institute for the RATP transport network, which revealed that a shocking 70% of women have been victims of such violence at some point in their lives while traveling through Île-de-France. The situation is even worse for younger women: 90% of those aged 19 to 25 reported similar experiences.
Violence on public transport takes many forms, ranging from sexist remarks and harassment to physical assault. 15% of victims reported having been sexually assaulted, while 6% said they had experienced rape or attempted rape. Yet, only 7% of those affected have filed a formal complaint with the police.
The consequences of this violence extend beyond the immediate harm to the victims. Over half of the women surveyed admitted to feeling unsafe in the Île-de-France transport system. In response to this fear, many women have adapted their behavior—68% dress differently when using public transport, while 83% make a conscious effort to position themselves against a wall or door when standing. Furthermore, 93% prefer to sit next to other women, couples, or families rather than men.
Despite the gravity of the situation, the effectiveness of existing safety measures remains under scrutiny. While initiatives such as dedicated assistance numbers (3117 and 31177) and on-demand drop-off services on buses have been introduced, they remain underutilized, with only 12% of users ever having used these services.
As the numbers show, public transport in France remains a battleground for women, and the government’s current efforts to address the problem appear insufficient. The question is no longer whether action is needed, but how much longer France can afford to wait before real change takes place.

March 12, 2025 0 comment

Europe Politics

Breaking the Silence: Muslim Women Speak Out

by خانم هاشمی August 5, 2024

A powerful testimony by Nadia Ahmad, a prominent Muslim scholar and lawyer, reveals the systematic suppression of Muslim women’s voices in the West.

An American Muslim girl speaks about the discriminatory policies of France and America against Muslims:

My father named me after the Olympic gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, following his attendance at the Montreal Summer Games in 1976. While I did not follow her athletic footsteps, I charted my own path as a journalist, lawyer, and law professor. My name is Nadia Ahmad. As a Muslim student who adheres to laws and is committed to social justice in my professional and academic fields, I find the current treatment of Muslim women deeply concerning.

The Hijab Ban and Beyond

Islamophobia has driven French Muslim women to migrate. Issues that add to my concern range from the ban on hijabs for French Muslim athletes at the Paris Olympics to the actions of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) with American Muslim representatives.

The Olympics, which supposedly epitomize global unity, have effectively told French Muslim women to leave their faith at the door. This is not merely an issue of dress but a fundamental violation of religious freedoms and personal autonomy rooted in broader French policies since 2004 when the French Senate passed a bill banning prominent religious symbols in public schools.

As both a legal scholar and an American Muslim woman, I find such developments troubling where religious challenges clash with government-imposed laws. We have become a secular society devoid of any religious values.

Marginalized Voices

Muslim women are clearly marginalized politically as well; the reduction in Muslim representatives is not just a statistical decrease but a reduction in collective voice and negotiating power—a power that has been completely suppressed during conflicts like Gaza and Israel where defending Palestine is not allowed.

Pro-Israel groups consider this an achievement while it is actually suppression of Muslim women.

Western news media question Gaza’s death tolls, ignore mass child hunger, and through their silence become complicit in genocide. If anyone doubts Vice President Kamala Harris’s stance on Gaza, she explicitly stated recently against protesters in Washington: ‘I condemn anyone associated with the savage terrorist organization Hamas.’ The common thread between France’s Olympic hijab ban and the situation with representatives in America and presidential candidates’ statements shows discrimination against women in modern society. The changes and laws implemented in both cases marginalize Muslims’ voices, especially those like mine. Upholding everyone’s rights requires more than words; it requires inherent changes towards greater support for Muslim women.

Ahmad’s powerful words shed light on the challenges faced by Muslim women, calling for a society that truly upholds the rights of all its citizens.

from: Middle east eye

August 5, 2024 0 comment

Europe

Olympics officials overrule French govt. ban on Muslim hijab

by Narges Mohammadi May 3, 2024

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared on Friday that athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were free to wear a headscarf known as a hijab in the athletes’ village, just days after France’s sports minister banned it for the host country’s athletes.

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said earlier this week that French athletes were required to abide by the country’s principles of secularism, thus banning female athletes from wearing hijab during the Paris Olympics.

France, which hosts one of Europe’s largest Muslim communities, has implemented laws designed to adhere to the country’s principle of secularism, known as “laicite”. On Sunday, Oudea-Castera echoed the secular principle insisted by French President Emmanuel Macron, saying the government was opposed to any display of religious symbols during games.

On Sunday, Oudea-Castera echoed the secular principle insisted by French Presein Emmanuel Macron saying the government was opposed to any display of religious symbols during games.

“For the Olympic Village, the IOC rules apply,” an IOC spokesperson said. “There are no restrictions on wearing the hijab or any other religious or cultural attire.”

The vast majority of the approximately 10,000 athletes at the Olympic Games reside in apartments in the Olympic Village and share common spaces, including dining halls and recreational areas.

“When it comes to competitions, the regulations set by the relevant International Federation (IF) apply,” the IOC spokesperson said.

The sports competitions at the Olympics are organized and overseen by individual international sports federations. There are 32 sports in the program of the Paris Olympics.

“Since this French regulation relates to the members of the French team only, we are in contact with the CNOSF [French Olympic Committee] to further understand the situation regarding the French athletes,” the spokesperson said.

United Nations rights office spokeswoman Marta Hurtado rebuked the French government for the ban on hijab.

“No one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear or not wear,” Hurtado told reporters in Geneva.

“Restrictions on expressions of religions or beliefs, such as attire choices, are only acceptable under really specific circumstances,” she said, pointing out that forcing the Muslim athletes to observe the dress code advocated under “laicite” secular principle was tantamount to “discriminatory practice.”

Source: Press TV

May 3, 2024 0 comment

Community Europe

Gender-based violence in French universities: ‘I decided something had to change’

by Narges Mohammadi December 10, 2023

The most prestigious universities and business schools in France such as Sciences Po and HEC train the country’s future executives and politicians. But due to the prevalence of gender-based violence that takes place on campus, for many students, they are also spaces that don’t feel safe.

On November 15, Nantes University published the results of a report and found that 4 of every 10 of its students have been victims of sexual and gender-based violence. The majority of victims identified as women or non-binary.

A few months earlier, the French Observatory on Gender-Based Violence in Higher Education published its own report based on 10,000 student testimonials, which found that more than half of students don’t feel safe in their institutions, with 4 in 10 saying their school doesn’t do enough to combat gender-based violence. 71% of respondents identified as women.

Run by student associations across France, the Observatory helps academic institutions track the gender-based violence and draw up preventative action plans, maps existing student initiatives and holds student conferences on the topic.

In an October 2023 editorial published by French daily Libération, the Observatory and other student groups called for “an urgent increase in the [financial] resources dedicated to combating gender-based violence in higher education and research institutions”. A year earlier, in October 2022, Minister of Higher Education Sylvie Retailleau announced the budget to combat gender-based violence in French universities would be doubled. While student groups called this “a step in the right direction”, they said the €3.5 million allocated was “far from enough to cover” more than a few workshops and campaigns to raise awareness.

What prompted you to take up the challenge of combatting gender-based violence in French universities?

Marine Dupriez: What I experienced at business school was a deeply sexist, racist and homophobic culture. When I was a student, there was a school newspaper that would come out with a “whore of the month” for each edition. At the time, it’s not like the administration actively supported the newspaper, but it wasn’t strictly prohibited. Now practices like this have been banned.

There is also a specific way in which prestigious universities in France are structured. Student associations are a key part of student life in these schools, and many students join these groups because it’s important for their education – it’s vital for networking. But at what cost? The recruitment process into these associations bring about group dynamics and integration rituals that are often violent. There are very little “positive” integration rituals.

I eventually began volunteering for a number of associations that taught secondary school students about sex and emotional life while I was still in university. The more time passed, the more I realised how important it would be for these things to be taught in higher education institutions.

After graduating, I joined an organisation focussed on the prevention of domestic and sexual violence. I would talk to my former classmates about the work I was doing and they would say how wonderful it was, but nobody would talk about what happened while we were at university.

It’s as if my work and our shared experience of gender-based violence were two completely separate things. I decided that something had to change and took matters into my own hands.

Can you briefly explain when you started Safe Campus and what it is you do?

When I started Safe Campus in September 2019 and began contacting universities, all I got were refusals. Institutions would tell me that gender-based violence didn’t exist on their campuses, and if it did, that they had it under control. They closed the doors in my face. I almost gave up, but in January 2020, an investigation published by French online newspaper Mediapart found that gender-based violence was running rampant in these elite business schools. Universities started contacting me and we began working together the way we do today.

We use a three-step approach. First, we work on improving or setting up reporting protocols. What that means is, if I’m a student and I’m experiencing gender-based violence, I’ll know exactly who to turn to and how. I will also know exactly how my report will be filed and the measures taken to treat it. We work on ensuring there is a clear protocol, staff at hand to deal with reports and that everybody knows this protocol exists.

Then we train people according to their role in the protocol. We’ll work on how staff can support a victim, for example, in particular on what we call the “first listening session”, the first interview that allows a victim to speak out. We also provide training on investigations, because it’s up to universities to carry out disciplinary hearings to get to the bottom of a case.

The last thing we do is raise awareness among students. And I use the term “raise awareness” intentionally. It’s not the student’s responsibility to get training on gender-based violence, it’s the administrations. We talk to students about how to prevent gender-based violence, consent, the legal framework and stereotypes, for example.

It’s very important that this is the last step because very often when we intervene in an institution, people end up identifying situations they experienced as violent and turn to the administration to report what happened. If those taking in a victim’s report are not properly trained, it’s can be even more disappointing or hurtful.

Does your work change depending on which university you intervene in?

Gender-based violence is not the same across all universities in France. In prestigious establishments (“grandes écoles” in French) like business schools or engineering schools, there are more cases of violence between students, particularly during ritual parties or integration events. In bigger universities where campus life and student associations aren’t as present, there tends to be much more violence between professors and students. Often between a thesis director and their student, for example.

There are also differences between private and public universities. In public institutions, there is no choosing sanctions or penalties, they are already detailed in French law. For example, the law stipulates that any civil servant who has knowledge of a crime or misdemeanour must report it. Private establishments on the other hand are more or less free to choose how to sanction gender-based violence.

What is your biggest challenge?

My challenges have changed with time. But there is one that persists, and that is the financial challenge. Unfortunately, these days, higher education institutions still don’t have enough time nor enough money to allocate to the prevention of gender-bases violence. So we’re obliged to do short interventions with large audiences, which inevitably will have less of an impact than long interventions with small groups.

There are laws in France stating that each university should have an advisor or specialist to help victims of gender-based violence. But there is no obligation for these universities to open new jobs, or even to increase the salaries of staff who become advisors. It’s so important to relate the legal framework to the reality on the ground.

But debates and frictions take place regardless of what year students are in. We sometimes get students who aren’t happy at all with what we’re saying, who find our presence extremely disturbing. That happens. We’re talking about difficult topics like sexual violence, but we’re also talking about consent and linking it to their everyday lives. For example, is it OK to get your mate to drink when they don’t want to? How does inebriation affect consent?

The use of alcohol is actually a very big sticking point. And the notion of consent can really call into question habits that some students don’t want to lose.

What makes you hopeful?

When I work with universities today, especially prestigious grandes écoles, the majority of female-led student associations are being taken seriously. They speak out. They aren’t afraid of escalating issues to the administration. They’re being listened to. That would have been unimaginable four years ago.

There is one university in particular where a female-led student association pushed so hard to prevent gender-based violence that now any student group leader has to go through mandatory training before being recruited.

As someone who could only do this kind of work after graduating, I find it extremely moving.

December 10, 2023 0 comment

Europe Politics

Fresh accusations of violence against women divide France’s left

by Narges Mohammadi June 27, 2023

FRANCE/ The old guard faces off against prominent so-called women right’s defenders, as resignations provoke controversy inside Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s coalition. Julien Bayou is no longer co-president of the green group in France’s National Assembly after being accusations of psychological abuse.

Another head has rolled on the French left. Julien Bayou is no longer co-president of the green group in France’s National Assembly or national secretary of the Green party, where he’s been an important figure since 2013, after being accused of psychological abuse against his former partner.

The Green party — Europe “Écologie les Verts (EELV)” — is torn over the affair, which comes right after a rift formed within the broader left-wing alliance — led by far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed — over another controversy surrounding violence against women.

Mélenchon’s success in June’s parliamentary elections robbed French President Emmanuel Macron of his majority in the National Assembly, giving the left-winger and his party unprecedented political influence. But accusations targeting two of his party’s heavyweights in parliament have cast doubt over the management of gender issues within France Unbowed, a party with a strong feminist stance.

Bayou’s case is now adding to the left’s troubles.

In July, Le Figaro reported that Bayou’s ex-girlfriend had filed a complaint to the Greens’ internal team which deals with violence against women, after what he called a “painful and difficult breakup.” His job only appeared to be on the line, however, after Sandrine Rousseau, a fellow Green and influential MP, re-upped the matter on France 5 last week.

Rousseau suggested Bayou had exhibited “behavior which could break women’s psychological health” and said that Bayou’s former partner had later attempted suicide. The party subsequently suspended Bayou from his role as co-president of the group, and he has now stepped down as secretary as well.

In a statement criticizing the manner of his ouster, he said, “I’m accused of facts which haven’t been laid out, which my accusers say are not punishable by law … It’s Kafka in the time of social media.”

Talking to Paris Playbook, someone in the party’s administration, speaking anonymously, questioned the manner in which Rousseau targeted Bayou on a TV panel, asking, “Was it necessary to lay the topic out on the table like that?”

Some Bayou supporters suspect a political maneuver from Rousseau, who opposes Bayou’s favored candidate to succeed him in December’s election for the party presidency.

One Rousseau supporter rejected this in no uncertain terms, saying: “Julien is a little ectoplasmic puddle who nobody gives a shit about. Sandrine is doing this to fight the patriarchy, which for her is more important than anything.”

Mélenchon under fire

Meanwhile, Mélenchon caused uproar in his own ranks after clumsily commenting on another case involving one of his own lawmakers.

MP Adrien Quatennens, one of his closest allies in parliament, resigned as France Unbowed’s operations manager earlier this month after admitting he had slapped his wife, Céline Quatennens — the pair are currently in divorce proceedings. French media reported that Céline Quatennens does not intend to press charges.

Directly after Quatennens’ resignation, Mélenchon tweeted his “trust and affection” for the MP and criticized “media voyeurism,” before explaining, “my affection for him doesn’t mean that I’m indifferent to Céline.” On Thursday, he doubled down on the tweets, saying he “always weighs [his] words” before, bizarrely, stroking a journalist’s face.

While rival parties made predictably severe criticism, seizing upon the opportunity to score points against a party that’s made preventing violence against women a key policy focus, several figures from Mélenchon’s own party also spoke out.

MEP Manon Aubry and MP Clémentine Autain said that Mélenchon’s tweets did not speak for them, while another MP released a statement alluding to “some tweets [which] betray a belittling of the facts committed and a misunderstanding of the reality of domestic violence.”

Autain and Rousseau are two of France’s highest-profile women-right’s defenders figures, and are leading voices when it comes to condemning violence against women. Rousseau was elected MP for the first time in June; in 2016, she made headlines for accusing Green party colleague and MP Denis Baupin of sexual harassment, kicking off a long legal saga.

Mélenchon had to make amends over the weekend, saying said he “accepted” the criticism and condemnation of him on a France 2 talk show.

Source: Politico

June 27, 2023 0 comment

Culture Europe

NEW; FRANCE/ “What’s Wrong Between Men & Women; Debate About Femicide”

by Narges Mohammadi May 15, 2023

FRANCE/ Cold-case drama The Night of the 12th has just swept the board at the Oscars in France and has the nation talking about misogyny and murder. We talk to its director, Dominik Moll, about how it made him question his place in the patriarchy. At 6 am on a Tuesday in May 2013, the half-charred, petrol-doused body of a young woman was found on a residential street, 25km east of Paris. It was 21-year-old Maud Maréchal, who had been returning at night from a friend’s house to her family home, just a few meters from where she was killed. A neighbor discovered the corpse, the police fruitlessly investigated this horrific murder, and then Maréchal’s death was filed away, hardly noticed by the French press.

Until now in France

A fictionalized account of the murder, The Night of the 12th by Franco-German director Dominik Moll, has just swept the boards at France’s Oscars equivalent; the César awards, reviving interest in the Maréchal case. “It was important to remind people there was a real victim; and her name was Maud,” says the director, speaking over Zoom from his home in Montreuil, 20km from where the young woman lived. “But then quite a few journalists started to talk about the real case in a very irresponsible way.” Rather than Maréchal murder, he was intrigued by the idea of investigators becoming obsessed with the case that gets away. But adapting the 30pages devoted to the case, but he quickly found himself framing it within the context of the raging public debate in France about femicide: “My co-writer Gilles Marchand and I felt that we needed to develop this aspect of what’s wrong between men and women. The #MeToo movement made us more aware of these problems.”

The police make jokes, to let off steam. But they’re saying: ‘All these crimes get to me, and I feel depressed’

Moll’s previous film, the 2019 highlands thriller Only the Animals, also featured a young woman’s murder but put it at the heart of a globalized reflection on desire. The somber, almost shell-shocked The Night of the 12th is more rigorous in its interrogation of gender relations. But compared to modern cold-case classics such as Zodiac or Memories of Murder, it feels uninterested in prodding us with thriller mechanics. Instead, it emphasizes the devastation experienced by the victim’s family, before turning the lamp firmly on the investigators: the stolid new boy Yohan, played by Bastien Bouillon, and his silverback partner Marceau (Bouli Lanners), for whom the dead woman’s sex life touches a nerve, given his failed marriage. Moll spent a week with the judicial police in the Alpine city of Grenoble, where he relocated the story, and realized that almost all of them were men. This led to a certain atmosphere: “When there’s a group, there’s always this thing where you can’t show weakness. And so you can make jokes about things, to let off steam. But it’s saying: ‘All this violence, all these crimes get to me, and I feel depressed.’ I think it’s more difficult for men than women to talk about intimate things.” You can see how much routine flippancy could harden into the kind of institutional misogyny that has recently been found in London’s Metropolitan Police.

I have a problem with a lot of Tarantino’s violent scenes because I feel he’s just having fun

Another such position is, of course, that of film director – exercising representational control over the portrayal of women. Moll has often spoken about Hitchcock as his lodestar, an inspiration visible in his previous César winner, the 2000 sly black comedy Harry, He’s Here to Help, and the 2005 thriller Lemming. When I mention the master’s women-in-jeopardy fetish and misogynistic tension with many of his female leads, Moll leaps to his defense. He says Hitch’s precision regarding point of view inspired him when depicting Clara’s death and carbonized remains in The Night of the 12th – which he told his producers was necessary to lend the crime the appropriate gravity. “I have a problem with a lot of Tarantino’s violent scenes because I feel he’s just having fun. Hitchcock helped me because he is very good at conveying violence without showing it. So we had those tight closeups when she meets the killer, on the lighter, on her eyes, then suddenly to have the very wide shot – unspectacular in a sense – of her crossing the frame as a small burning figure. All those things come from studying Hitchcock and his film language.” Moll doesn’t think his work is getting necessarily darker as he gets older, even though The Night of the 12th is shorn of the piquant ironies of Harry, He’s Here to Help. But with his early noughties and present-day work is equally drawn down into unconscious nooks of the psyche, his interest in human foibles is constant. During the lockdown, he took up an old childhood love again, a remnant of his pre-cinema interest in art and biology: drawing. “Very detailed drawings of animals in black ink,” he specifies. Source: The Guardian

May 15, 2023 0 comment

Europe Society

NEW STUDY; Sexism Against Women in the Cradle of Women’s Rights

by Narges Mohammadi March 27, 2023

FRANCE/ Survey finds women targeted by online harassment, together with male ‘backlash’ towards #MeToo. Sexism remains at “alarming” levels in France in all areas, according to an official report that found the situation is getting worse, particularly for younger women.

Women are targeted by new forms of harassment; including online violence, verbal abuse on social media, and pornography with “barbaric” content, it said.

The survey also detected a male “backlash” across French society to the #MeToo movement; with “macho raids” on social media seeking “to reduce women to silence or discredit them”. It stated that situations of “discrimination, violence, and harassment” have reached “alarming proportions”.

The study of 2,500 people by the High Authority on Equality (HCE), a consultative body; found sexist behavior increasing in “all spheres”, with many men believing violent and discriminatory behavior to be acceptable. Older men often remained stuck in conservative attitudes towards male; and female roles in society, while younger men occasionally displayed aggressive macho tendencies, it found.

Results

Among the women aged 18-24 questioned, 22% said they had suffered “psychological control or excessive jealousy” by a partner; and 15% had been beaten by their partner or ex-partner. This rose to 20% among women aged 50-64.

More than one-third – 37% – of French women polled said they had been subject to non-consensual sex. The HCE found 33% of women asked; had sex when they did not want to but their partner insisted. 12% had unprotected sex at the insistence of their partner – rising to 18% in the 25-34 age group.

Of the 18- to 24-year-olds polled, 22% said they had suffered a sexual assault or rape.

Despite people being aware of the violence and discrimination since the #MeToo movement; “bias and gender stereotypes, sexist clichés and everyday sexism are still commonplace”, the HCE found.

“People recognize and deplore the existence of sexism but fail to reject it in practice, a phenomenon particularly widespread among the men questioned. This gap between perception, statements, and practice has tangible consequences in terms of symbolic, physical, sexual, and economic violence.

“From every day, so-called ‘ordinary’ sexism to its most violent manifestations, there is a continuum of violence, one forming the bedrock of the others,” it read.

Contestants in the Poll

Those questioned also spoke of a lack of confidence in official measures to combat sexism and respond “to a situation that is getting worse with a new phenomenon: online violence, increased virulence on social networks, barbarity in many pornographic industry productions, and affirmation of a masculinist and antifeminist pornographic industry.

“In addition, there are clear signs that women’s fundamental rights; especially sexual and reproductive rights; are being eroded in the world.”

Elsewhere in the poll, 93% affirmed that men; and women are treated differently in at least one of the aspects of their life: work, public space; school, or family. 80% of women asked said they had been less well-treated or felt they had been because of their sex, while 37% of men said the same.

Final Word

Fabienne El Khoury, a spokesperson for the feminist group Osez Le Féminisme, said the situation was “depressing but not surprising”.

“We see that sexism is a structural problem. It’s not just a question of discrimination in salaries and pensions or an increasing number of femicides, which are the visible part of the iceberg, but a whole mentality that needs to change,” El Khoury said.

“The only way to do that is to introduce a feminist education from a young age to combat sexist stereotypes and to address pornography that is violent, misogynistic and degrading to women but that is attracting young boys at a lower and lower age.”

“It’s not enough to protect women and punish men. If we don’t address the roots of everyday sexism and change the mentality we will never move forward. We cannot just deplore the situation we need to change it.”

She said the authorities needed to target male attitudes “from a very young age” and introduce more stringent measures to combat online sexism, violence, and harassment.

“Everyday sexism leads to violent sexism,” she added.

Sources: The Guardian

March 27, 2023 0 comment

Europe Society

EXCLUSIVE; Sexism Against Women in the Cradle of Women’s Rights

by Narges Mohammadi February 25, 2023

Survey finds women targeted by online harassment, together with male ‘backlash’ towards #MeToo

FRANCE/ Sexism remains at “alarming” levels in France in all areas; according to an official report that found the situation is getting worse; particularly for younger women.

Women are being targeted by new forms of harassment including online violence; verbal abuse on social media; and pornography with “barbaric” content, it said.

The survey also detected a male “backlash” across French society to the #MeToo movement; with “macho raids” on social media seeking “to reduce women to silence or discredit them”. It stated that situations of “discrimination; violence; and harassment” have reached “alarming proportions”.

The study of 2,500 people by the High Authority on Equality (HCE) which was done a month ago; a consultative body, found sexist behavior increasing in “all spheres”; with many men believing violent and discriminatory behavior to be acceptable. Older men often remained stuck in conservative attitudes towards male and female roles in society; while younger men occasionally displayed aggressive macho tendencies, it found.

Among the women aged 18-24 questioned; 22% said they had suffered “psychological control or excessive jealousy” by a partner; and 15% had been beaten by their partner or ex-partner. This rose to 20% among women aged 50-64.

More than one-third – 37% – of French women polled said they had been subject to non-consensual sex. When the figures were broken down; the HCE found 33% of women asked had had sex when they did not want to but their partner insisted; and 12% had unprotected sex at the insistence of their partner – rising to 18% in the 25-34 age group.

Of the 18- to 24-year-olds polled, 22% said they had suffered a sexual assault or rape

Sexism Results

Despite people being aware of the violence and discrimination since the #MeToo movement “bias and gender stereotypes,; sexist clichés and everyday sexism are still commonplace”; the HCE found.

“People recognize and deplore the existence of sexism but fail to reject it in practice; a phenomenon particularly widespread among the men questioned. This gap between perception, statements, and practice has tangible consequences in terms of symbolic, physical, sexual, and economic violence.

“From every day; so-called ‘ordinary’ sexism to its most violent manifestations; there is a continuum of violence, one forming the bedrock of the others,” it read.

Those questioned also spoke of a lack of confidence in official measures to combat sexism; and respond “to a situation that is getting worse with a new phenomenon: online violence; increased virulence on social networks, barbarity in many pornographic industry productions, and affirmation of a masculinist and antifeminist pornographic industry.

“In addition; there are clear signs that women’s fundamental rights, especially sexual and reproductive rights, are being eroded in the world.”

Elsewhere in the poll; 93% affirmed that men and women are treated differently; in at least one of the aspects of their life: work, public space, school, or family; 80% of women asked said they had been less well-treated; or felt they had been because of their sex, while 37% of men said the same.

Women’s rights activists

Fabienne El Khoury, a women’s rights activist said the situation was “depressing but not surprising”.

“We see that sexism is a structural problem. It’s not just a question of discrimination in salaries; and pensions or an increasing number of femicides; which are the visible part of the iceberg; but a whole mentality that needs to change,” El Khoury said.

The HCE president, Sylvie Pierre-Brossolette, said it was the first time such a survey had been done in France.

“We wanted to do for sexism what has been done for racism;” Pierre-Brossolette told the Guardian. “It’s not enough to protect women and punish men. If we don’t address the roots of everyday sexism and change the mentality we will never move forward. We cannot just deplore the situation we need to change it.”

She said the authorities needed to target male attitudes “from a very young age” and introduce more stringent measures to combat online sexism, violence, and harassment.

“Everyday sexism leads to violent sexism,” she added.

Source: Guardian

February 25, 2023 0 comment

Europe Society

French girl at the age of 12, laid to rest after evil murder

by Narges Mohammadi November 3, 2022

A 12-year-old girl whose murder shocked France and sparked political controversy was laid to rest on Monday, after a mentally disturbed Algerian woman already targeted by an expulsion order was charged with the killing.

The brutal assault and murder of the girl known as Lola was branded as “evil” by President Emmanuel Macron after her body was found earlier this month in a trunk in Paris.

The killing prompted conservative and far-right critics to accuse his government of not doing enough to prevent illegal migration, while ministers shot back that such rebukes were inappropriate.

Lola’s family had called for political mudslinging to be set aside and for the young girl to be laid to rest in “respect and dignity” in the town of Lillers, in her home region in northern France.

Her parents, her brothers, other family members and a crowd — including Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, a Macron ally — were present when her white coffin, adorned with white flowers, was carried into the local church.

“You left us much too soon,” Thibault, one of Lola’s older brothers, said at the ceremony. “I didn’t have time to tell you how much I love you.”

Bishop Olivier Leborgne, who presided over the ceremony, said: “Lola, who was 12, not only died too young, but under unbearable circumstances.” Dozens of mourners followed the ceremony via loudspeakers set up outside the church.

“My grandchildren, who are the same age as Lola, wanted us to be here,” said Sabine Vizenski, one of the mourners gathered near the church. “There are no words to describe what was done to that young girl,” said another, Thomas Maillot, who drove half an hour to pay his respects.

“It’s very important for me to be here,” he said. The funeral mass was open to the public but the family wanted the actual burial in the cemetery to be strictly private.

Macron had on Friday spoken of the “atrociousness of the crime” which he described as an act of “extreme evil”. He praised the “dignified” behavior of Lola’s family, who he said deserved “first and foremost the respect and affection of the nation”.

But the profile of the suspect — an Algerian woman named only as Dahbia B. who was the subject of an expulsion order — has prompted stinging criticism from the right and one of the most bitter political debates since Macron’s re-election in May.

She had overstayed a student visa and had failed to comply with a notice issued in August to leave France within 30 days. On Monday, the 24-year-old was charged with the rape and murder of a minor aged under 15, along with torture and abuse.

In an at times rambling interview, the woman confessed that she had “committed harm of a sexual nature and other violent acts against (Lola) that caused her death, and hid her body in the trunk”, prosecutors said.

According to the autopsy, the young girl died due to “cardio-respiratory failure with signs of asphyxia and cervical compression”. The investigation will now focus on whether the suspect was suffering from a psychiatric disorder at the time of the killing and if she can face criminal responsibility for the murder.

Eric Ciotti, MP from the right-wing Republicans (LR) party, had accused the government of “criminal laxism” over migration, while extreme-right figure Eric Zemmour, an unsuccessful presidential candidate in May, had even described Lola’s killing as “Francocide”.

The far-right National Rally (RN) observed a minute of silence in parliament on Monday and the leader of its MPs, Marine Le Pen, insisted on the need for “answers” from the government.

In a statement sent to AFP on Friday, Lola’s parents called for an immediate end to “any use of the name and image of their child for political ends” so they could “honours the memory of their child in peace, respect and dignity”.

Source: Expatica

November 3, 2022 0 comment

Europe Society

Another ban for Muslim women in France

by Narges Mohammadi June 26, 2022

Court in France states that the religious nature of the burkini and its implication for women’s rights make it unfit for public areas

France’s highest court ruled against “burkinis” at public swimming facilities on Tuesday, but did not crack down on public toplessness for women.

France’s Council of State, the highest administrative court in the country, ruled that allowing the burkini swimwear — a full-length, modest swimsuit worn by Muslim women — would violate the nation’s secular governance and laws against religious influence.

Not long after the ban was lifted, it was reinstated by Grenoble’s administrative tribunal. The Council of State’s decision on the issue has been anticipated for weeks. The burkini had previously been legalized by the city of Grenoble in May 2021, along with topless swimming, after outcry from residents.

The Council of State overturned lower court rulings that allowed the burkini, stating that the religious nature of the garment and the implications it has for women’s rights make it unfit for public pools.

France, the birthplace of the bikini, has for years struggled with its standards on women’s swimwear. In 2016, the swimsuits became controversial following an Islamic extremist attack on the city of Nice, France. Towns began banning the burkini, with police officers fining Muslim women found wearing them who refused to remove some of their clothes or leave the beach.

France is not alone in the growing conversation about swimwear and lack thereof. Nudity laws banning topless women at the beach have been challenged and sometimes overturned across the United States.

Sports illustrated swimsuit model halima aden talks wearing a hijab, “Burkini”: I’m so incredibly grateful.”

A Nantucket, Massachusetts proposal titled “Gender Equality on Beaches” allowing anyone to go topless on beaches was passed last month at the annual town meeting.

The amendment read: “In order to promote equality for all persons, any person shall be allowed to be topless on any public or private beach” in town.”

The by-law, proposed by seventh-generation Nantucket resident Dorothy Stover, was passed with a 327-242 vote by the Gender Equality on Beaches, according to WCVB. The next step is for the measure now to be approved by the state attorney general’s office.

We all talk about giving women the choice to choose for themselves on how they wish to dress; and then we have politicians in the cradle of freedom banning muslim women who are “WOMEN” from dressing the way they are pleased.

Women are allowed to come out topless; but if they wish to cover themselves , they are banned from that. How is this ideology acceptable ?!

June 26, 2022 0 comment

Newer Posts

Older Posts