“Let’s make Paris the city of love without AIDS.
» The message has been displayed in capital letters since 2016 on the sleeves of some 150,000 condoms distributed free of charge by the City.
But on the eve of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, this slogan, which embodies “the City's commitment against HIV”, will soon disappear.
For the first time, the municipality has just launched a major competition open to Parisians to review the visuals of the covers of these thousands of condoms distributed each year to the capital's associations.
According to the City, candidates are expected to provide a visual in four versions and a “
baseline
” focused on the theme of “consent”.
A choice which comes at a time when Emmanuel Macron expressed, this Wednesday, his intention to include in French law the notion of consent in matters of rape.
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“In the summer of 2024, Paris will be a welcoming city for many people from all over the world,” writes the municipality on its website.
It will bring together diverse and numerous audiences for sporting and festive occasions, but studies show an increase in sexist and sexual attacks during these gathering periods.
This is why the theme of this competition focuses on the importance of consent in an intimate relationship and thus combating all forms of sexist or sexual violence.
»
With this competition, the City intends to “raise awareness, without feeling guilty” while positioning itself as a “militant actor on the theme of consent and, more generally, sexist and sexual violence”.
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“This is something that has never been done,” says Anne-Claire Boux, deputy (EELV) to the mayor of Paris in charge of issues relating to public health.
The question of consent is a very important subject that needs to be made more visible.
It is also an opportunity to bring the question of wearing condoms back into the public debate as young people use them less and less.
»
However, there is no question of sending a message with an overly alarmist tone.
“The proposed visual must be benevolent and, if possible, fit into the festive framework represented by the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” insists the municipality.
“This competition is also a positive way to talk about condoms and contraception,” says Anne-Claire Boux.
Creations - all types of visuals are accepted, except photos for technical reasons - must be sent no later than April 4.
The winner will be known on May 17 during the Bal de l’amour.
The jury will notably be made up of TV presenter Valérie Damidot as well as journalist and feminist activist Anna Toumazoff.