“You are sovereign, women who rub shoulders with hatred” ; “One that affects all concerned” ; “A subway every two minutes, a rape every seven minutes.”, “In 11 feminicides, it’s Christmas”. Using slogans and signs, each more inventive than the last, thousands of people marched on Saturday November 23, 2024 across France to denounce violence against women.
The demonstrators, the vast majority of whom were women, were 80,000 in Paris, 3,000 in Bordeaux (Gironde), 2,500 in Montpellier (Hérault), 1,600 in Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), 800 in Marseille (Bouches-du -Rhône), 170 in Cherbourg (Manche), 150 in La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée)… Gatherings festive, with dances and songs, pink or purple outfits, to denounce a dark reality: women are victims of physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence in frightening proportions.
See also: VIDEO. Violence against women: in Coutances, a song in support of Gisèle Pelicot
“Owners of their spouses”
These parades took place in dozens of cities, after a call for mobilization launched by more than 400 organizations and personalities such as the singer Angèle or the actress Judith Godrèche. They were the prelude to the International Day to Combat Violence Against Women, which will be held this Monday, November 25. This year, they had a particular coloring, because they were held in the middle of a resounding trial, whose echo goes beyond our borders, the Mazan rape trial, in which the victim was delivered unconscious by her husband to dozens of men came to rape her. The attorney general's indictment must begin this Monday at the Vaucluse criminal court, in Avignon.
Across France, women expressed their anger. In Nantes (Loire-Atlantique), where a big demonstration is planned for Monday, there were around a hundred of them in front of the Graslin theater, where they had hung white sheets on a clothesline bearing the names of women murdered in France since the start of 2023 : Laurie, Elisa, Assia, Fatiha… The opportunity for Brigitte Biche, member of the Droits des femmes Nantes collective to denounce “ a system of patriarchy, in which men have an ownership relationship with their partners”sometimes considering “that they will be better dead than free” . In Cherbourg, where a similar operation was carried out, a young woman wondered: “How can we not be angry when so many rape complaints are dismissed? »
In the Rennes procession, Anne, a 26-year-old lawyer proudly carrying a sign declaiming Not all men but even Abbé Pierre (Not all men but even Abbé Pierre, Editor’s note), affirmed: “Society must open its eyes to the fact that sexist and sexual violence is systemic”. While his mother, Bérengère, a 56-year-old teacher, saw at least one reason to be optimistic: “Feminism was not very alive when I was young, I am happy to see its vitality today. »
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