The 62-year-old singer denounces « bankruptcy » of the State in the face of this « hell » that she herself went through, in reference to the domestic violence inflicted by her ex-husband in the late 1990s.
« We’ve never been so bananas » on the fight against violence against women under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, denounces the singer Lio in an interview with AFP, denouncing a « bankruptcy » of the State in the face of this « hell » that she herself went through. « We need money, associations really need it to help women in their journey through this horror », underlines the 62-year-old woman, on the poster for the concert against violence against women organized on November 27 at the Adidas Arena by the Women’s Foundation.
« This would greatly compensate for the bankruptcy of the State which does not want to see anything. I have never felt so ignored by a government like Macron’s. How can you make so much fuss for nothing? It seems crazy to me », launches the interpreter of the 1980s hit Banana Split and Brunettes don’t count as plums.
Committed to the issue for decades, the artist does not mince her words a few days before the international day against violence against women, November 25. « For society, a good woman is a dead woman, I say it with all the pain in the world, she declares. We’re never heard until it’s too late, and everyone is sad when we die, even though we’ve raised the alarm so many times before ».
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« Double punishment »
« I went through that and yet, I’m a white woman, I was privileged, I was famous: it was hell. It was hell »she insists, in reference to the domestic violence inflicted by her ex-husband at the end of the 1990s. Her voice breaks. « So, I don’t dare imagine what women go through who are really left alone, sometimes in a very conservative, very masculinist family, really, still in greater danger than me ».
« For me, it was in 99. And I didn’t see anything move. Sorry, but I didn’t see anything move. What I saw moving was the women »she decides. « It’s slow but you must not let go because despite everything, it vibrates, it moves. » « Every vibration makes it crack » the wall « and one day it will collapse. Maybe I won’t see it, maybe my grandkids will see it, maybe even my kids, so it’s definitely worth it ».
Like feminist associations, which estimate the annual budget necessary to effectively combat violence against women at 2.6 billion euros, Lio judges the measures taken in recent years by successive governments « insufficient ». « Femicides are not decreasing », she observes. And « when a woman is raped and has to confront her attacker, it is a double punishment, which makes women give up and accept that it is reclassified as assault. They take the 10,000 bullets and then it’s a descent into hell, because that (this money, Editor’s note) doesn’t make up for it. ».
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« Demolished »
The singer, who revealed at the start of the year to have been raped at the age of 10 by a member of her family, says she is « damaged » et « demolished » since she managed to put « the right word » on what happened to him as a child: « A rape ». She says she admires the « new generation of girls » who manages to put « words on words ». « What is it called? Where does it come from? They still leave armed at the construction level, and that saves time » et « a strength too. Naming is very important, it’s like a rebound. Hop! That’s not everything, but it’s already a good part of the job. »
Nearly twenty years after rebelling live on a television set against « romantisation » of the singer of Noir Désir, Bertrand Cantat, who killed the actress Marie Trintignant in 2003, the Belgian-Portuguese singer indicates that her positions « have caused harm » professionally. Lack of « record company support », she launched a fundraiser last year to finance her next album. As for Bertrand Cantat, whose group recently announced the release of a new album, Lio warns: « If there are demonstrations in front of theaters, I will support them. And if I’m around, I’ll come. »
