What is the assessment of Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term for women’s rights?

During his campaign for the presidential election in 2017, Emmanuel Macron made women’s rights one of his major causes. Five years later, what concrete conclusions can we draw from the actions carried out by his government on various essential themes? The fight against domestic violence and sexual violence, the fight for equality, especially economic equality, the pressure on health and education, what has really advanced? We spoke on the subject with Berengere Couillarddeputy La République en Marche for Gironde and gender equality relay for the presidential majority campaign.

What major successes in terms of women’s rights should we retain from this five-year term?

Priority was really given to the fight against all forms of violence, and we must not forget that the first law passed was that against sexist and sexual violence, known as the Schiappa law. It included in particular the limitation period, the law on street harassment which was a world first as well as that on harassment in packs. We have also developed a flagship measure on consent, with a text on the consent of those under 15 years of age. Today it is no longer possible to have a sexual relationship between an adult and a minor under the age of fifteen: the minor is considered not to be consenting and this is a major step forward.

Have things changed a lot with regard to domestic violence in particular?

Obviously, one of the great successes of the five-year term is the progress in the fight against domestic violence. #MeToo has accelerated the movement. For my part, I had set up a working group with around thirty deputies, and we held mini-Grenelle meetings all over France. The strength of these texts against domestic violence is to have been as close as possible to the field, to all the actors in the field of education, social workers, law enforcement, legal professions, and to the victims. This is what allowed us to have an extremely strong legislative arsenal. It continues, we are not satisfied with these results. I am well aware that this is a long-term job. We know it takes time.

Isn’t the pedagogical and educational component also essential?

The response measures were necessary, and I believe they are recognized. There were additional measures: for example, being able to receive a victim’s complaint in a third place. We still have to manage to work on education for equality between women and men among the youngest, because we can see that we are still in a patriarchal society and that inequality between women and men is felt from an early age. It is necessary to work in the educational environment, but also in the family sphere where women still carry out more than 70% of the household tasks. Little girls feel inferior to boys very quickly at school, and this needs to be corrected.

On this subject, why isn’t there a legal definition of femicide today?

In 2017, this term was not natural, today it is used in the usual way. Now we have to bring it into the law. It’s hard to categorize a person’s homicide based on their gender. There are more consequences than you might think in bringing it into law and I think you have to be careful when you touch on the civil code and the penal code. You are aware that there are aggravating circumstances in cases of spousal murder.

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With regard to women’s health, the subject is essential today, but not a priority?

There is a real desire to work on women’s health. The endometriosis plan which was presented last January illustrates this. The announced proposals are being implemented. These are subjects that take time: we must advance research and train doctors. Regarding menstrual leave, it is also something that we are watching closely, because some of our neighbors have done it and are ahead of us. Same thing with regard to the reimbursement of contraception and gynecological care, these are things being considered. The proof, we have already voted for free contraception for young girls under 25, this is progress. We look at what more we can do.

Another symptomatic aspect of gender inequalities is the economy. The expectations of French women are high on the subject.

There was the Pénicaud index set up in 2018: after three years the sanctions can fall, we are there. Admittedly, some of the companies have not made the declaration, but some of them also need to be accompanied on the subject. Other laws that have passed relatively unnoticed have enabled significant advances, such as the law making it possible to impose equal representation in high authorities or the law establishing the payment of social benefits directly to the account of the beneficiary. These measures make it possible to fight effectively against economic violence. Priority has also been set up for the allocation of crèche places for single-parent families, the majority of whom are women. And very recently, since March 1, alimony has been paid automatically to fight against bad-paying ex-spouses, so that it is no longer inevitable. We are moving forward, there is still work to do, of course, but we are moving forward, no five-year term has done so much.

Another question, that linked to the “double penalty” movement, this feeling of a second aggression felt by the victims when filing a complaint: how to take these dysfunctions into account?

I must emphasize that we have taken a big step, particularly in terms of care and support. First, we are not welcomed in a police station today like 5 years ago when we come to file a complaint. Nearly 100,000 police officers and gendarmes have already been trained in the reception, collection of words and orientation of women victims of domestic violence. The new evaluation grid proposed to gendarmes and police officers has greatly helped in taking complaints into account. The associations say so. In addition, some gendarmeries have created cells dedicated to attacks on persons, where victims are cared for by volunteer and trained gendarmes. And concerning the justice component: there have been a multitude of reminders from the Keeper of the Seals with the deployment of protective measures, serious danger telephones, anti-reconciliation bracelets. Of course, there are sometimes misunderstandings for the victims, because we are not in automatic sentencing. The judge keeps his gaze, and must make decisions according to each specific situation.

Will violence against women and the fight for equality have as important a place in the campaign as they had in the previous one?

When the president embarked on this subject in 2017, he was not expected on it and it had gone unnoticed, for some it was a non-subject. There will be the will to continue working on this subject, because we are committed to ensuring that there is less violence against women and fewer feminicides. As long as there is no real decline, nothing should be let go. It’s a long process.

Do you fear that this subject will go by the wayside if a more right-wing candidate is elected?

Of course, because today we have undertaken a certain number of essential measures which must be continued, we must continue this work and the mobilization in progress. Today we have policies that are anti gender equality, and that claim this patriarchal society. The danger is real.

Loïse is addicted to current events, to TV series which she consumes whenever she has the time, to comics, to running which she practices whether it rains or snows, and…