«
Protect your daughters, educate your sons", "Giving in is not consenting", "When I go out, I want to be free, not courageous", could be seen this Saturday on placards of demonstrators in several cities of France. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated on 25 November in several countries on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, demanding changes in men's behaviour and more means and effectiveness from States.
In 2022, 118 femicides were recorded in France, according to official figures. Since the beginning of 2023, there are 121 feminist associations. "We don't want to count our dead anymore," said Maëlle Lenoir, of the feminist collective "Nous toutes".
In Italy, where tens of thousands of people marched in several cities including Rome and Milan, 106 femicides were recorded last year, according to the National Institute of Statistics (Istat). The country is still reeling from the death of a 22-year-old student, Giulia Cecchettin, who was murdered two weeks ago by her ex-boyfriend Filippo Turetta, also 22, who was arrested in Germany after a week-long run.
In Brazil, a row of pairs of shoes with women's names on Rio's Copacabana beach symbolized the 722 femicides recorded in the country in 2022. That's the highest number since 2019, according to the tally by the Brazilian Public Security Forum.
Demonstrations also took place in Bulgaria and Turkey, and as early as Friday evening in Chile and Guatemala. "Beware, machismo kills," read many placards in Santiago de Chile, a stronghold of the feminist movement. There have been 40 femicides in Chile and 438 in Guatemala since the beginning of the year, according to protest organizers.
82 femicides per day worldwide
In Istanbul, some 500 women gathered in the Sisli neighborhood with slogans: "We will not remain silent" and "Women are united and fight against the violence of the male state." In 2021, Turkey withdrew from an international agreement to protect women from domestic violence, the Istanbul Convention. On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the exit had "no impact on our fight against violence against women."
In the United States, President Joe Biden lamented that "the scourge of gender-based violence continues to inflict suffering and injustice on too many people." "We know what is at stake: whenever and wherever women and girls are threatened, so is peace and stability," he added. "Violence against women is a toxic weed that plagues our society and must be cut at the root (...) through an educational action that places the person and his or her dignity at the center," Pope Francis said. In a video on social media, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the "persistence of violence against women is not inevitable", "we must end it and we will do it".
Despite recent measures in France (increase in the number of dedicated investigators, deployment of "grave danger telephones" and "immediate danger bracelets", creation of emergency accommodation places, etc.), feminist collectives and unions are demanding at least "two billion euros" per year for "a global policy" that is effective.
Worldwide, 82 femicides committed by partners or ex-partners take place every day, and an estimated 31% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once in their lives, according to 2018 WHO data.
More than half (56%) of women and girls killed are killed in the intimate sphere (family member, spouse or ex), compared to 11% of men and boys, according to a UN Women report published in 2022.
Since 25, November 1999 has been the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. A date corresponding to the assassination of three of the Mirabal sisters, opponents of the dictator Rafael Trujillo, on November 25, 1960 in the Dominican Republic.