“France missed the opportunity”, opponents disappointed after the Senate’s rejection of the ban on children under 16

The Senate on Thursday rejected a bill aimed at banning bullfights for under-16s, sparking disappointment among animal rights defenders. Claire Starozinski, president of the Anti-Corrida Alliance, regrets “a missed opportunity” to align France with the UN recommendations. Supporters of bullfighting, for their part, welcome a victory for the preservation of local traditions.

“Once again, France has missed the opportunity to comply with the recommendations of the (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child, which recommended banning minors' access to bullfighting shows.“, regretted Claire Starozinski, president of the Anti-Corrida Alliance, after the rejection in the Senate of a bill banning bullfighting for under-16s. This text, defended by Macronist senator Samantha Cazebonne, aimed to preserve young people spectators of judged scenes “traumatic“.

The proposal was rejected Thursday by a large majority of senators, with 237 votes against and only 64 for. This outcome, although not surprising in a hemicycle marked by a majority of right-wing and centrists, has relaunched the heated debate between defenders of local traditions and supporters of the animal cause.

For opponents of bullfighting, the issue is clear: “Is it acceptable for minors to witness the suffering of a living being, while their understanding of the values ​​of compassion and kindness is still being formed? We have a duty to protect their innocence“, argued Cazebonne, supported by several elected officials and associations, including the SPA.

But supporters of bullfighting have fiercely defended what they consider to be a “uninterrupted local tradition”. According to them, this text would have threatened the very existence of bullfighting in France. “Considering that only parents have the right to include or not the bullfighting culture in the education of their children (…) the Senate has taken an important step on the path to the definitive protection of bullfighting in France“, greeted the Union of French Bullfighting Cities (UVTF).

“Let's respect our identities, respect our culture and let parents choose to pass it on!” launched Laurent Burgoa, LR senator from Gard, echoing the many elected officials who pleaded for parental freedom. The Minister of Justice Didier Migaud, for his part, underlined the legal aspect of the debate, describing the project as “disproportionate“and risky for parental authority.”The State must not intervene (on parental authority) otherwise it will appear paternalistic, or even invasive, and ultimately disempower parents.“, he added.

Some senators also criticized the heavy sanctions provided for in the text, in particular five years of imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros for the organizers of bullfights authorizing the presence of young spectators. “Sanctioning a show organizer for the presence of a young person in the audience is completely inconsistent“, estimated Louis Vogel, Horizons rapporteur on this text.

In addition to the debate on child protection, the economic question of the territories affected by bullfighting was also raised. “Depriving families who wish to go there of shows, sometimes out of passion, but also simply out of curiosity or to form an opinion, also means depriving these areas of a particular attractiveness.“, said Cécile Cukierman, communist senator.

For others, this proposed ban was only a pretext to attack bullfighting itself, as expressed by Max Brisson, LR senator for Pyrénées-Atlantiques: “more skillfully than by advocating a total ban, (this text) pursues the same aims: to prevent any transmission to younger generations and therefore condemn bullfighting to certain death“.

This vote comes two years after the interrupted examination of a similar project carried by LFI deputy Aymeric Caron, aiming at a total ban on bullfighting. A proposal that the National Assembly ultimately never decided on.

Written with AFP.