It is a confidential body of La France Insoumise which must sometimes decide complex cases.
Whether the case is brought to justice or not, the
"
follow -up committee
against sexist and sexual violence"
( CVSS
) is responsible for conducting internal investigations in the event of a report of a victim or witness, member or not of LFI. .
Here he is again seized after the accusations of
“sexual harassment and
(of)
gestures that may be similar to sexual assault”
against the deputy LFI Éric Coquerel by the ex-activist Sophie Tissier.
“Recommendations” transmitted
The committee was created in December 2018, driven by the wave of the #MeToo movement within political parties.
Its composition remains largely secret.
Only indication: it brings together seven women volunteers and members of LFI.
They are the ones who must contact and collect the testimony of the person who made a report.
“All are trained on sexual and gender-based violence and on listening to and supporting victims
,” says the LFI press release online.
The only known name of the body is that of Sarah Legrain, MP for Paris, who is responsible for responding – sparingly – to journalists.
However, she will not participate in the hearing of Sophie Tissier in the context of the Éric Coquerel file because the elected official is too close to the respondent.
The body must then communicate its
“recommendations”
, with the agreement of the person, to the “Committee for the respect of principles” of LFI, composed of eight members, and responsible for ensuring respect for the values of the movement.
For example, the
"Committee for monitoring gender-based and sexual violence"
had recommended the exclusion of Thomas Guénolé in 2019, considering that a testimony from a student who was not enlisted at LFI fell under
"sexual harassment"
- which he always disputed.
The political scientist, then a candidate on the Insoumise list for the Europeans, had however precipitated his departure by denouncing a party
“with Stalinist methods”.
More recently, the CVSS also advocated the withdrawal of Taha Bouhafs' candidacy for the legislative elections after several reports, including one for
"sexual violence"
.
In both cases, justice was not seized for lack of complaint.
Both Thomas Guénolé and Taha Bouhafs strongly denounced this committee, claiming that they had been unable to defend themselves or obtain a confrontation.
According to
La Croix
,
"about forty cases have been heard"
since the creation of the CVSS,
"fourteen have given rise to internal investigations"
and
"eight have resulted in sanctions"
.