A blatant accusation. An administrator of the feminist collective 50/50 is to be tried next September for acts of sexual assault.
The accused was the subject of a summons by report, following a complaint filed in March, detailed AFP, from a judicial source. The facts allegedly took place in March, during a dinner with one of the administrators of the collective, which campaigns for equality, parity and diversity in the film and audiovisual industry.
An internal letter, distributed to the 900 members of the collective, was written following an extraordinary general meeting organized last Saturday, where six administrators resigned, because of the “particular context which caused a very strong tension”. Details are given there.
Thus, at the end of the dinner given on March 11, bringing together around twenty people, “a complaint for sexual assault was filed by a guest, against an administrator of the collective. (…) At this stage, the complainant does not wish to speak publicly, and the person implicated strongly disputes the facts”, is it written.
SMS apologies
According to a report consulted by AFP, the administrator targeted by the charges was heard by the police and was “in a state of obvious intoxication” at the time of the facts, according to several witnesses. In a text message the next day, she apologized to the complainant. She was immediately put on withdrawal and suspended from all her activities.
“The collective has always fought against gender-based and sexual violence and harassment. (…) The exceptional facts that we know must in the same way be treated with attention, commitment and discernment, with transparency, and in respect of the values which constitute the DNA of the collective”, made a point of specifying the council of administration in his letter.
Created in 2018 as part of the MeToo movement, the 50/50 Collective brings together a thousand film and audiovisual professionals. Its first awareness-raising actions in favor of parity and diversity were carried out at the Cannes Film Festival. In particular, he participated in the parity charters adopted by several film festivals.