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Macron promises to ‘put an end’ to violence against women in France

With marches taking place across France to demand better protection for female victims of violence, President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation promising tougher action.

Published: 25 November 2023 15:31 CET

Women march to protest gender-based violence in Paris. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron issued a video statement on Saturday, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

“Every day, women suffer oppression, abuse and controlling behaviour. Every day, blows are dealt and lives are destroyed. This persistence of violence against women is not inevitable. We can put an end to it. We must put an end to it, and we will,” he said.

Message important en ce jour de mobilisation contre les violences faites aux femmes. pic.twitter.com/MU6tfDu2mZ

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 25, 2023

The President highlighted measures that have been taken under his administration, including reforms to make it easier to report abuse; an expansion in operating times of emergency hotlines; increased hiring of specialised investigators; and the creation of new emergency accommodation for women in danger.

“244,000 victims of domestic violence were recorded this year by law enforcement. That’s twice as many as in 2017. And these figures obviously reflect the fact that women are speaking out more freely. This is a good thing, but the fact remains that 118 women died at the hands of their partner in 2022”, he said.

“We must continue to move forward, to be more demanding, more protective and better at prevention. That’s it, we’re continuing and we won’t give up.”

From December 1st, victims of domestic violence will be able to apply for emergency finance from the state to help them move out and from January, specialised departments will be created in courts across the country to process domestic violence cases. But for people protesting across the country on Saturday, progress isn’t happening fast enough.

The marches have been organised by feminist collectives including #NousToutes and Grève féministe, as well as trade union federations.

They say that 121 women have been killed in incidences of domestic violence so far this year – a figure that, while not yet officially confirmed, surpasses the number killed in 2022.

The organisers are calling for violence to be prevented at an early stage through better education in schools and for tougher steps to regulate the porn industry, which it says promotes “rape culture”. Speaking to France Info, Jessica Suzes, a representative of #NousToutes said there were 250 rapes or attempted rapes everyday in France – one every six minutes. “There is still a lot to do: in businesses, in the government, in all of society,” she said.

The march organisers are also calling for companies to be sanctioned if they do not put in place plans to prevent sexist and sexual violence. They also want 15,000 new places available in emergency accommodation for women fleeing violent partners.

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Azerbaijan vehemently rejects the accusation it bears responsibility for the riots that have led to the deaths of five people and rattled the Paris government.

But it is just the latest in a litany of tensions between Paris and Baku and not the first time France has accused Azerbaijan of being behind an alleged disinformation campaign.

The riots in New Caledonia, a French territory lying between Australia and Fiji, were sparked by moves to agree a new voting law that supporters of independence from France say discriminates against the indigenous Kanak population.

Paris points to the sudden emergence of Azerbaijani flags alongside Kanak symbols in the protests, while a group linked to the Baku authorities is openly backing separatists while condemning Paris.

“This isn’t a fantasy. It’s a reality,” interior minister Gérald Darmanin told television channel France 2 when asked if Azerbaijan, China and Russia were interfering in New Caledonia.

“I regret that some of the Caledonian pro-independence leaders have made a deal with Azerbaijan. It’s indisputable,” he alleged.

But he added: “Even if there are attempts at interference… France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better”.

“We completely reject the baseless accusations,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh said.

“We refute any connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom in Caledonia and Azerbaijan.”

In images widely shared on social media, a reportage broadcast Wednesday on the French channel TF1 showed some pro-independence supporters wearing T-shirts adorned with the Azerbaijani flag.

Tensions between Paris and Baku have grown in the wake of the 2020 war and 2023 lightning offensive that Azerbaijan waged to regain control of its breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists.

France is a traditional ally of Christian Armenia, Azerbaijan’s neighbour and historic rival, and is also home to a large Armenian diaspora.

Darmanin said Azerbaijan – led since 2003 by President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father Heydar – was a “dictatorship”.

On Wednesday, the Paris government also banned social network TikTok from operating in New Caledonia.

Tiktok, whose parent company is Chinese, has been widely used by protesters. Critics fear it is being employed to spread disinformation coming from foreign countries.

Azerbaijan invited separatists from the French territories of Martinique, French Guiana, New Caledonia and French Polynesia to Baku for a conference in July 2023.

The meeting saw the creation of the “Baku Initiative Group”, whose stated aim is to support “French liberation and anti-colonialist movements”.

The group published a statement this week condemning the French parliament’s proposed change to New Caledonia’s constitution, which would allow outsiders who moved to the territory at least 10 years ago the right to vote in its elections.

Pro-independence forces say that would dilute the vote of Kanaks, who make up about 40 percent of the population.

“We stand in solidarity with our Kanak friends and support their fair struggle,” the Baku Initiative Group said.

Raphael Glucksmann, the lawmaker heading the list for the French Socialists in June’s European Parliament elections, told Public Senat television that Azerbaijan had made “attempts to interfere… for months”.

He said the underlying problem behind the unrest was a domestic dispute over election reform, not agitation fomented by “foreign actors”.

But he accused Azerbaijan of “seizing on internal problems.”

A French government source, who asked not to be named, said pro-Azerbaijani social media accounts had on Wednesday posted an edited montage purporting to show two white police officers with rifles aimed at dead Kanaks.

“It’s a pretty massive campaign, with around 4,000 posts generated by (these) accounts,” the source told AFP.

“They are reusing techniques already used during a previous smear campaign called Olympia.”

In November, France had already accused actors linked to Azerbaijan of carrying out a disinformation campaign aimed at damaging its reputation over its ability to host the Olympic Games in Paris. Baku also rejected these accusations.