In France, the “NousToutes” (“Us All” in French) collective once again called to protest against gender-based and sexual violence. On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 of November, several demonstrations took place throughout the country, with tens of thousands of people taking part.
In France, in 2021, 101 women were murdered by their partner or ex-partner, according to a collective. Around sixty marches were organised throughout the country to highlight this reality and remember the victims.
50,000 PEOPLE IN PARIS
On the fiftieth anniversary of the first march organised by the Women's Liberation Movement (MLF) in 1971, and in the lack of a march in 2020 due to the pandemic, the collective hoped to rally a large number of people. In Paris, 50,000 people (18,000 according to the police) marched. However, this number only amounts to half the number of protesters the 2019 edition gathered.
THE CONVERGENCE OF DIFFERENT STRUGGLES
The 2021 demonstration was marked by intersectionality: to the traditional feminist demands (fight against violence, right to abortion, equality between men and women, denunciation of feminicide...), protesters added slogans stemming from the celebration, on 20 November, of the World Children’s Day as well as the Trans Day of Remembrance (TdoR).
This year, the young generation, largely involved in feminist struggles and mobilised on social networks, led the Parisian procession, and a "childhood" space was set up. These gestures recalled that children are often the direct or indirect victims of patriarchal violence and that the fight against incest and paedo-criminality is a feminist struggle. This is a timely message, following the emergence of the #MeTooIncest movement on French social media and the publication of the survey on paedo-criminality in the Church. This report found that more than 200,000 minors have been victims of clerics since the 1950s in France alone.
Several trans collectives attended both the march and the TDoR rally in the evening, while others, denouncing the invisibilisation of their cause caused by the march, were missing. There were many messages of support from protesters and organisers calling for adelphity – a gender-inclusive term to express solidarity – and reminding people that "trans women are women'' and that "transphobia kills." Indeed, 2021 was the deadliest year for trans people, with at least 375 trans people murdered worldwide this year.
Shortly after the denunciation of the gynaecological and obstetrical violence suffered by patients at the Tenon hospital, several groups of medical students and practitioners demonstrated to demand feminist medicine.
A CALL FOR ACTION BEFORE THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
A few months before the presidential election (in April 2022), and while the political debate is increasingly leaning towards security, this march was also an opportunity to recall the inadequacy of the measures taken to curb sexist and sexual violence during Emmanuel Macron's five-year term, whose "great cause" was supposed to be the protection of women's rights.
Feminist organisations demand that one billion euros per year be devoted to this fight, instead of the current 360 million, to be spent on the creation of more shelters to welcome survivors of domestic violence, the training of justice and police professionals on feminist issues, awareness-raising on harassment, sex education insisting on consent.
In France, 220,000 women are victims of domestic violence and 94,000 are raped every year. Protests will take place until November 25th, the International Day for the elimination of violence against women.
Sara Chollet is pursuing a Master’s in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Paris-II Panthéon-Assas, in France. She previously obtained a Master’s in Public Policies at the École Normale Supérieure in Rennes. During her former studies in Åbo Akademi (Finland), she specialised in human rights and migration law. Sara has a strong interest in migration, women’s rights and LGBTQI+ issues.