"We must and will put an end" to violence against women, Macron promised. In a video released this Saturday on social networks on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The head of state also considered that the "persistence of violence against women [was] not inevitable".
Important message on this day of mobilization against violence against women. pic.twitter.com/MU6tfDu2mZ
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 25, 2023
"244,000 victims of domestic violence have been registered by the security forces this year. That's twice as many as in 2017. And these figures of course reflect the freer expression of women's speech. This is a good thing, but the fact remains that 118 women died at the hands of their spouses in 2022," the head of state said.
He listed the actions already put in place (extension of the 3919 opening hours, implementation of a digital support platform, facilitation of the filing of complaints, increase in the number of dedicated investigators, deployment of "grave danger telephones" and "immediate danger bracelets", creation of emergency accommodation places) and welcomed efforts "which have borne fruit".
Emergency Financial Assistance
The decree implementing the law establishing emergency financial aid for victims of domestic violence, voted in February by Parliament, was published in the Official Journal on Saturday. This financial support, ranging from €250 to around €1,300, will be paid from 1 December and is intended to help victims of domestic violence cope with urgent expenses in the event of sheltering and separation, while waiting for durable solutions to be found.
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The government will also test in five departments a "new start pack", with a CAF agent responsible for "organizing, with local associations, the departure of women," said the minister in charge of equality between women and men Bérangère Couillard, this Saturday on France 2. "There is still too much back and forth before women can leave the home for good and therefore separate from their abuser," she said.
As for rallies, they are expected in several cities of France: in Paris at 14 p.m., starting from the Place de la Nation, in Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier, Marseille, Lyon and Strasbourg in particular. Alongside the collectives of associations led by #NousToutes and Grève féministe, the leaders of the CGT, Sophie Binet, and the CFDT, Marylise Léon, as well as representatives of FSU and Solidaires will be in the Parisian procession. At the head of the procession will be the families of victims of femicide, with portraits of their missing loved ones.
Support for "all women in the world"
"Our support goes to all women in the world, who are the first victims of armed conflict, along with children. We particularly show our support for the women of Ukraine, Burma, Palestine, Israel, Nagorno-Karabakh," says the appeal of the Feminist Strike association signed by collectives and unions.
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Feminist associations from several countries, Kurdish, Afghan and Palestinian, will also be on display. "Feminists are for the cause of peace, all acts of violence are condemned," said Myriam Lebkiri, a member of the CGT's confederal bureau. In the march, activists intend to "honor the memory" of Israeli women, "victims of femicide," Maya, an activist who did not want to give her name, told AFP.
Israeli police announced on November 14 that they were investigating sexual violence, including rape and mutilation, suspected of being committed by Hamas terrorists during the bloody attack on October 7.