Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV) does not seem about to close the Bayou affair. The environmental party met on Saturday 1er October, its executive office and the internal unit responsible for investigating violence against women. This decision follows an article by Release revealing that Julien Bayou, who resigned as national secretary after accusations of psychological violence against an ex-companion, was under the “surveillance” of feminist activists from the party.
“The information published in Freed confirm the need to reflect on the best way to deal with this particular case”explained a source close to the management to Agence France-Presse. “It is normal that the information in this article is taken into account and treated politically”added another EELV official.
“Hard work”
After its meeting, the party leadership reaffirmed in a press release its ” trust “ in the work of the cell against sexual and gender-based violence of the party, a “unprecedented instance” who “does a hard job and has been able to deal with, and is still dealing with, all the cases reported to him”. “Without its existence, many people would have had no other solutions”, defends EELV. The cell “did not consider that there was reason to suspend Julien Bayou on a conservatory basis and she is continuing her work and her hearings”adds the text.
According to the survey of Release, Julien Bayou has been the subject, for three years, of the close surveillance of environmental activists and feminists, outside of any formal framework. According to the newspaper, several women who had romantic relationships with the boss of EELV were contacted in order to ensure his behavior towards women, and to protect his then companion from possible inappropriate behavior. . A WhatsApp loop would have been formed for this purpose.
Alerted by an email from a former companion of Julien Bayou, the EELV cell devoted to sexist and sexual violence seized itself at the end of June, according to Release. According to the newspaper, one of the female members of this cell responsible for processing reports of sexual and gender-based violence in the party was also part of the informal group that targeted Julien Bayou’s private life. In its press release on Saturday, management assures that “all the people having a link with Julien Bayou have deported themselves from the file”.
“The cell does what it can”
On September 19, the feminist collective #NousToutes challenged the party on Twitter about the charges against Mr. Bayou. The affair took on a very important echo a few hours later, with the declarations of Sandrine Rousseau on France 5. The EELV deputy from Paris mentioned there, on behalf of Julien Bayou, “behaviours likely to break the moral health of women”. On September 26, the person concerned resigned under pressure, despite the absence of a complaint and a judicial inquiry against him.
Saturday’s meeting was intended to discuss “the issue of procedures in general and the collective ability to establish them in a stable, reliable, sustainable, efficient manner”according to an official who requested anonymity. ” The cell [contre les violences sexistes et sexuelles] does what she can. We are dealing with subjects for which there are no nomenclatures or established procedures”but “we cannot reduce a victorious struggle strategy to individual initiatives, sometimes approximate”he adds.
Deputy National Secretary Jérémie Crépel, who replaces, with Léa Balage, Mr. Bayou, announced on Saturday their “proud to listen to the voices of victims and to treat gender-based and sexual violence seriously while others choose to ignore it”. “We were the first, after the Baupin affair, to set up a unit to fight against sexist and sexual violence”he underlined, welcoming “abnegation” of its members. He added that “the possible need to outsource [tout ou] part of the investigations is on the table ».
The decision to suspend Julien Bayou from his duties as co-president of the group in the National Assembly has been taken “to give serenity to the listening unit, but it appears as a sanction (…) and this sanction, it is not normal”also criticized Friday the candidate of EELV for the 2022 presidential election, the European deputy Yannick Jadot, who had however himself requested a withdrawal of Mr. Bayou from the head of the party.
In a tweetthe environmental candidate for the 2012 presidential election, Eva Joly, for her part, reacted to the article by Release : ” The end does not justify the means. These actions outside of any framework serve the cause they are supposed to advance and are dangerous for the very ones we claim to protect. »