IEighty years ago, on April 21, 1944, French women finally became citizens. Article 17 of the ordinance of the provisional government of the French Republic, based in Algiers, promulgates: “Women are voters and eligible under the same conditions as men. » This is a French particularity: the right to vote and the right to be elected were not acquired by parliamentary votes, but by an ordinance in the wake of the Resistance, after one hundred and fifty years of civic mobilizations by stubborn activists.
Eighty years later, where are we in terms of parity in politics? It is clear that if this right of eligibility was a necessary step, it is far from being sufficient in the context of French history and mentalities. Binding laws have been, and still are, necessary for practices and reality to evolve. As proof, if the National Assembly elected in October 1945 had 6% women, this percentage had not changed in 1993, almost fifty years later.
And it was only thanks to the parity movement of the 1990s and mobilization for laws establishing parity in elected bodies that real progress was obtained, notably through the revision of the Constitution in 1999. Article 1 mentions that “the law promotes equal access for women and men to electoral mandates and elective functions as well as to professional and social responsibilities”.
White areas of parity
Today, wouldn’t it be time to change this verb “favor” to “guarantee”? And to really include parity in the Constitution? The various successive laws of the 2000s have generated undeniable progress, but many white areas of parity remain. Only 42% of women in the municipal councils of municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants. Only 26% of women in the executives of intermunicipalities which are 89% led by men. Only 20% of women mayors or department presidents. The Senate has only 36% female senators and the National Assembly only 37% female deputies, with no change between 2017 and 2022. Old unequal, discriminatory and sexist practices and stereotypes are tenacious.
We must also mention the sexist and sexual violence that elected officials suffer within the bodies themselves. In 2021, the Local Elected Officials network conducted a survey in which nearly 1,000 elected women responded. Among them, 74% say they have suffered sexist or sexual violence as part of their mandate. Of these 74%, 82% say they have suffered this violence from elected colleagues. These elected officials, committed to their territory, to their fellow citizens, become victims. This violence reflects part of the discomfort of elected officials, as evidenced by resignations in recent years. However, the mechanisms to defend and protect these representatives of the Republic are either non-existent or ineffective.
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