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Sexism, racism, homophobia ... Each year, a significant number of discriminations is still reported within the French armies. Parliamentarians are calling for better monitoring of these topics in order to better combat them.
At the National Defense and Armed Forces Commission of the National Assembly, the tone rose as seldom on March 27. While the discussions there are usually calm, if not consensual, they took a particularly tense turn, as shown by the images available on the website of the National Assembly .
" I hesitate to express myself, because some remarks have deeply revolted me ," said Aude Bono-Vandorme (LaREM). " This is the first time in my eight years in the National Assembly that I feel uncomfortable. I refuse to speak on the subject, "added Laurent Furst (LR).
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The cause of this tension: an information report on " anti-discrimination mechanisms within the armed forces ". The authors, Bastien Lachaud (FI) and Christophe Lejeune (LaREM) describe the difficulties of the military institution to face and demand measures that arouse controversy: feminization of ranks, strict respect for secularism by prohibiting the hierarchy of use the professional mails to invite the troops to traditional masses or the setting up of vegetarian fighting rations, to give only a few examples.
Habitual discriminations ...
The major problem mentioned in this report remains that of discrimination against women. Between 2014 and 2017, they suffer the vast majority of reported serious cases of moral harassment, sexual harassment, as well as sexual violence. Despite the efforts made in 2014 by the Ministry of Defense, monitoring remains partial.
Racist or religious discrimination also remains. Marc M., a non-commissioned officer in the army, witnessed such remarks within the framework of a military training. " When we were reviewing the recruits ," he told RFI, " some colleagues regularly came across a case that seemed problematic to them : a young man who was praying and Ramadan. They demanded that a motive be found to fire him. But basically, there was nothing concrete to reproach him, apart from practicing his religion. "
Violence and injustice that spare no one. Guillaume D., a non-commissioned officer who left active service, tells RFI about his passage in a regiment where certain minorities were very well represented: " What I found in my unit are groups that behave like bands in the city. Antilleans, Africans or Maghrebians who stayed between them and imposed their rules on others. Whites were harassed, mocked, sometimes to drive some to desert. "
... but also news
The two authors of the parliamentary report address more original issues of discrimination, the fruits of an era whose standards evolve. On the military with AIDS, for example. Quoting the militant association AIDES , they believe that the medical rating of the Ministry of the Armed on this subject is " surprising and anachronistic about the scientific and biological realities of HIV ". While many patients now live normally with a light treatment (of the order of a pill per day), the military institution continues to fundamentally set aside the soldiers affected by this disease.
On a completely different note, the members of the House are asking about vegetarians. No food solution has been studied for this population, especially in terms of combat rations. Marginal phenomenon? The authors testify to their experience during a visit to a battalion of officers recruited on title at Saint-Cyr, the French military higher education school: according to them, one in ten students left his meal for this reason.
Study the phenomenon to better combat it
Among the specialists auditioned by the deputies, retired colonel Jacques Bessy chairs the Association for the Defense of Military Rights (Adefdromil), remarks to RFI that many files on social issues are subject to opacity recurrent: " The social report of the armed forces and the gendarmerie does not show the number of soldiers on long-term sick leave by army, by service, by sex or category of rank. 90 % of them are for psychic reasons. It may be trauma in operation, but also nervous breakdowns. If we knew who was involved, if women, for example, are overrepresented, we could better deal with the problem. The MEPs make the same observation and call for specific work, in particular by independent researchers, to obtain a more detailed follow-up.
A better knowledge of these phenomena would better fight them. " There is no staff that comes in being racist or homophobic," says Colonel Bessy . It's not ideological. It's the fact of the group. For him, better training of military personnel would reduce risks and cope with situations. When a soldier finds himself marginalized and wants to leave the institution - if he does not find his place - he would have to accompany his departure, rather than try to keep him at all costs. " These people have individual rights ," he says. We must respect them . "