A note from feminist France

 Deb Nicholson

On Saturday 23 November 2019, the French grassroots, feminist, anti-violence-against-women movement, #NousToutes (We Are All) mobilised 150,000 women, men and children on the streets of Paris and in regional cities across the country. People gathered for the historic march and rally against gender-based violence, including domestic and sexual violence. It was the biggest march of its kind in French history, and the organisers were justifiably proud of their achievement.

In organising the march and rally, #NousToutes were compelled to draw attention to the shockingly high rate of femicide in France. Since the beginning of January 2019, 138 women, have been murdered in France by their male partner or ex-partner. This works out at around 12.5 women per month who are victims of domestic violence related homicides.

#NousToutes have been actively lobbying the French government for additional resources for prevention, training and more adequate services to support victims who want to escape and need to be somewhere safe. The need for this is evident in recent data released by #NousToutes citing that 41% of the women murdered this year had made reports to the police that were not actioned. This represents a serious structural issue to be addressed by the French government and should not be ignored. However, to date the French government have been largely silent in terms of committing to increased funding or the critical action needed to prevent women being murdered by their male partners or exes.

#NousToutes had enormous expectations that their efforts to raise awareness of the sheer scale and volume of male violence against women would result in some positive action in the form of additional funds from the French government that recognise the scale of the issue. Instead, the French Prime Minister, Édouard Phillippe responded to the call of the activists, by “reciting technical measures”, many of which are already in existence in France. #NousToutes have made it clear that the existing measures do not meet the requirements – and the evidence of this is that the shocking toll of 138 women are dead at the hands of their male partners or ex partners. In fact, the Prime Minister confirmed that there would be no additional resources in 2020 to fight against violence.

According to #NousToutes, “the gap between the mobilization of society - from all of us - and the response is staggering”. The group are rightly furious and bitterly disappointed at the failure of government to take seriously the epidemic of violence against women in France.

On Monday 25 November, hundreds of #NousToutes activists gathered at the Prime Minister’s Paris residence, Hotel Matignon, to demand additional resources. The press release (in French, translated below) that #NousToutes issued after this demonstration is worth reading in its entirety for its passion, determination, and call to action.

It is a call to action that none of us can afford to ignore. We must stand in solidarity with our French sisters in this fight.

Get involved:  #NousToutes www.noustoutes.org and Facebook

If you need to, you can use the Deepl translation tool to copy and paste from their website so you can read the articles, and respond to their posts on Facebook.

Read the press release in the original French

Read the translated version below:

The Prime Minister shut down the Grenelle* (negotiations) against violence on Monday morning.

Two days after a historic mobilization in France against sexual violence, he did not have a word for the tens of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets everywhere

in France on Saturday on the call of #NousToutes.

In his speech, the Prime Minister sets out the facts and uses harsh words: he talks about

This is due to "major dysfunctions" and "collective bankruptcy". It does not draw conclusions from this.

The disappointment is equal to the immense expectations raised in recent months.

Many of the measures announced already exist.

·        With regard to family mediation, France has ratified a text that prohibits mediation in the event of violence within the couple.

·        The training of professionals in violence prevention education is provided for in the law since 2010.

·        The lifting of medical confidentiality already exists in the event of a life-threatening situation.

We were expecting preventive measures at school, training measures, places dedicated and funded hosting services. We were expecting financial resources that would mark a change of scale. On this side, it amounted to nothing.

The main thing to remember is that the Prime Minister announced that France would mobilize 360 million against violence next year. It's almost the same amount as in 2019.

The government does not change public policies dedicated to combating sexist and sexual violence. The figures for violence will not decrease.

We are disappointed. We are also determined. If the government does not want to change course, we will do it for them.

We will go to every company, every administration, every university, every neighbourhood, on every street corner. We will be involved in each of our family meals and each exchange at the coffee machine.

We will not give up anything. No police station, no courthouse, no press reports. And every time you trivialize violence, blame the victims, put in place doubts the reality of what we are experiencing, every time you will find us on your way.

 We will, step by step, raise the level of awareness of this country and transform it.

We will, step by step, stop the violence around us. Then around our friends. Then around friends of our friends of our friends And so on and so forth.

We are #NousToutes. We are a movement that nothing can stop.

*The term Grenelle, almost always spelled with a capital letter, referred to the Grenelle de l'environnement, which brought together various political and associative actors to find solutions in the field of ecology. More generally, it is used to talk about a major political debate.

Example: A Grenelle on domestic violence was launched to find concrete solutions more quickly.

Synonyms: debate, negotiation

Deb Nicholson is a feminist who works from her home in the foothills of the French Pyrenées as a consultant and trainer in domestic violence awareness, prevention and risk assessment/management. As a French resident (via Australia and the UK) Deb is determined to heed the call to action made by her French sisters, in the name of Liberté, Egalité and le mouvement de la liberation de la femme.

www.debnicholson.com