Demonstrators maintain placards studying “we don’t flip our backs on violences” (L) and “feminicides, not yet one more” (R) throughout a protest to sentence violence in opposition to girls, referred to as by feminist organisations two days previous to the worldwide day for the elimination of violence in opposition to girls, in Paris, on November 23, 2024. (Photograph by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Tens of hundreds demonstrated in main French cities Saturday in opposition to violence focusing on girls, as campaigners push for the nation to study from a mass rape trial that has shocked the general public.
The prosecution within the southern metropolis Avignon is in its closing phases for 51 males, together with one who drugged his spouse over the course of a decade and dozens of others charged with accepting his invites to abuse her at their dwelling.
Out on the road, “the extra of us there are, the extra seen we’re, that is everybody’s enterprise, not simply girls,” mentioned Peggy Plou, an elected official from the Indre-et-Loire area in western France who had made the journey to Paris.
1000’s of individuals marched within the capital alone, principally girls however together with some kids and males. Police put the turnout there at 12,500, whereas organisers mentioned 80,000.
Police sources mentioned 35,000 folks had turned out throughout the nation, whereas organisers put the determine at 100,000.
Tons of additionally turned out in different main cities together with Marseille within the south, Lille within the northeast and Rennes within the northwest. Native officers in Bordeaux, within the southwest, put the turnout there at 1,600.
Many demonstrators carried indicators with variations on the slogan “Disgrace should change sides”, popularised by the plaintiff within the Avignon trial, Gisele Pelicot.
She has grow to be a feminist hero for selecting public hearings in her case quite than a trial behind closed doorways, regardless of their painful content material.
Legislation reform
“A legislation about consent should be put in place in a short time. Simply because somebody doesn’t say one thing, doesn’t imply that they agree” to sexual contact, mentioned Marie-Claire Abiker, 78, a retired nurse who marched in Paris.
France’s authorized definition of rape calls it “any act of sexual penetration… by violence, constraint, threats or shock” however contains no language about consent — a key demand of ladies’s rights teams particularly for the reason that MeToo motion launched within the late 2010s.
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“In 2018, there have been principally solely girls (demonstrating). Immediately there are, let’s say, 30 p.c males. That’s actually nice information,” mentioned Amy Bah, a member of the NousToutes (All of us girls) feminist group protesting in Lille.
“I really feel like that is my enterprise too, we every have our position to play, particularly males,” mentioned Arnaud Garcette, 38, on the Marseille demonstration within the metropolis’s historic port along with his two kids.
“We’re on the supply of the issue, and on the supply of the options too,” he added.
The demonstrations, referred to as by greater than 400 marketing campaign teams, come two days earlier than the Worldwide Day for the Elimination of Violence Towards Ladies on Monday.
Equality Minister Salima Saa has promised “concrete and efficient” measures to coincide with the worldwide day.
Based on a report in Sunday’s Tribune Dimanche weekly, Prime Minister Michel Barnier will announce measures together with elevated coaching for law enforcement officials and extra assist for victims of home violence who go away their dwelling.
The campaigners who organized Saturday’s protests are calling for extra far-reaching measures, together with a devoted 2.6 billion-euro ($2.7 billion) funds and a stronger authorized framework to deal with the issue.
Throughout his first time period as French president, Emmanuel Macron vowed to prioritise the reason for equality between women and men and to work to get rid of violence in opposition to girls.
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