Presidential: equality, health ... the 22 measures of the collective "Together against sexism" for a feminist five-year term

Twenty-two levers against sexism. No less than twenty-two imperatives have been adopted so that the next President of the Republic does not leave aside more than half of the French population (52%): women. Three months before the presidential election, the Collective "Together Against Sexism", its 40 member associations and organizations organized their 5th National Day Against Sexism on Tuesday. They propose at the end of twenty commitments for a feminist five-year term. Among the associations that have worked on these measures: the Guard Dogs, the National Solidarity Women Federation (FNSF), Grandes Écoles au Féminin or even Family Planning.

📢 Life without sexism: it's possible!

📅 The Together Against Sexism Collective (@CSexisme) is organizing its 5th National Day Against Sexism on January 25, 2022. On the program, a webconference divided into three round tables from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.!

pic.twitter.com/tk4wxyDCqu

– Equality Laboratory (@Laboegalite) January 21, 2022

This "advocacy for an anti-sexist presidential election" submits a list of solutions to eradicate sexism in all areas of society: education, sport, work, culture, health, communication... Nearly 600 people participated and the resulting document of these reflections was given to Elisabeth Moreno, Minister responsible for Equality between women and men, diversity and equal opportunities.

An equality certificate in schools

Led by Laurence Rossignol, Socialist Senator and former Minister for Women's Rights, this annual day against sexism was launched on January 25, 2018. Objective?

Encourage the public authorities to raise awareness among the entire population of the consequences of this scourge, which hinders the freedom of women in their private and professional lives.

It is therefore not surprising that the collective invites itself into this presidential campaign where violence against women is not a major issue.

First priority: act from an early age by establishing a culture of equality. In addition to imposing a fair representation of women and men in school programs and textbooks, or facilitating girls' access to scientific and technical training by fighting against discrimination and stereotypes, the Collective wishes to set up a " equality certificate” at primary and secondary level. A "diploma" certifying the learning of the concept of consent and the fight against inequalities between girls and boys.

However, this has been an obligation since 2018, but, on this theme, more than two out of three high schools have not appointed an equality referent, in particular responsible for the prevention of sexist and sexual violence, points out, for example, the feminist collective We All in a study from November 2021. Private high schools are particularly bad students: only 11% of them have a referent, compared to 41% of public establishments.

#PasDeLyceeSansEgalite #NousToutes carried out a national survey of 1000 high schools on the presence of equality referents, mandatory since 2018.

Results: 2 out of 3 high schools do not have an equality referent.

It's a catastrophe.

Cc @jmblanquer pic.twitter.com/3gfQx7vDEF

— #WeAll (@WeAllOrg) November 8, 2021

And when the violence is already there, the amount required of the public authorities to protect women and meet their needs is similar to the estimate of associations working daily in the field: 1 billion euros.

An amount that already appears in some presidential programs.

Apart from Philippe Poutou, who does not specify a sum, the whole left agrees on the need to inject “one billion euros” to reform, from school to courts, and drastically reduce the number of feminicides.

“If it takes 1 billion, 2 or 3 billion, we will do it.

No one can accept murders of this nature without giving the means to remedy them, ”warned the candidate of rebellious France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, during a speech at Sciences-po Paris, on October 6, 2021.

Mandatory 28-day paternity leave

Ensuring equal pay for jobs and equal value, requiring parity for all positions of responsibility and establishing effective financial sanctions, contributing to a fund dedicated to professional equality, in all private and public sectors... These provisions put forward, in the economic sector, by the collective "Together against sexism" come up against an observation established by INSEE in 2019: maternity penalizes the salary progression of women.

If the wage gap between the sexes is maintained at any age around 7% for employees without children, it widens on average to 23% between fathers and mothers.

With the arrival of a child, INSEE observes a dropout.

The salary of mothers after the birth of a child drops on average by 2% to 3%.

When that of fathers, with equal skills in the same company, benefits from a slight increase (+ 3%).

The gap widens over time between fathers and mothers.

Thus, mothers earn 11% less than fathers at age 25 but 25% less at age 45.

In focus: the double working day of working mothers.

Extending the mandatory nature of paternity leave to 28 days (compared to 7 today) is one of the group's solutions to promote "from the birth of the child the sharing of parental tasks equally between the parents", he notes. .

During a meeting on January 22, the socialist candidate, Anne Hidalgo, spoke out in favor of 16 weeks of paternity leave, as in Spain, six of which are compulsory.

Less cared for women

The abstraction of biological and gendered differences that dominates today in France in the medical world has become a public health problem whose first victims are… women.

The collective noted it well.

Women are more at risk of anorexia nervosa in nine out of ten cases.

They represent three quarters of patients with Alzheimer's or another form of dementia.

They are three times more affected by multiple sclerosis, twice as many victims of side effects to the same drugs as men, more prone to depression.

56% of deaths from cardiovascular disease are dead...

It is a fact, diseases have a sex and a gender.

Why focus specifically on these two determinants?

"Because the differences between the sexes are numerous, insufficiently documented, too often ignored, and sometimes sources of inequities in health", specified the High Authority for Health, in a report of December 2020. However, it is women who pay a high price by being less well taken care of by the health system.

Doctors seem to take the measure of it more, but the collective wants to go further.

It is thus campaigning for the creation of a center dedicated to research on the specificities of women's health, both in terms of prevention and treatment.

The Health component also includes full reimbursement of all contraceptives and the extension of the access period of 14 weeks of pregnancy for a voluntary termination of pregnancy (compared to 12 currently).

Including the right to abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is also part of this advocacy, joining on this point the speech of Emmanuel Macron in the context of the French presidency of the Council of the Union. European.

The LR presidential candidate, Valérie Pécresse, also spoke out in favor of the measure.

We must "convince the people", because "some countries today are not in favor of it

she added on the morning of France Inter, on January 20.

It is now on all of the 22 measures retained that the collective expects a return from the candidates for the presidential election.

“Neither empty ambitions nor incantations, these are concrete solutions to make the 2022-2027 five-year period that of the eradication of sexism”, he warns.