- Lawyer, politician and committed writer Gisèle Halimi died on Tuesday at the age of 93.
- She made her life a fight for women's rights, marked by the Bobigny trial in 1972, which paved the way for the legalization of abortion.
- For the philosopher of feminist thought Geneviève Fraisse, if Gisèle Halimi did not carry a feminist "utopia" and was not revolutionary, she defended the politics of feminism.
"A passionate Republican" and "a great fighter for the emancipation of women", "an example for all" or "an immense voice". On the announcement of the death of lawyer Gisèle Halimi on Tuesday, tributes from the political class poured in. Disappeared at the age of 93, this writer and former Member of Parliament had made her life a permanent fight for women's rights.
What legacy does Gisèle Halimi leave and what role has she played in the fight against violence against women in France? For Geneviève Fraisse, philosopher of feminist thought and emeritus research director at the CNRS, the indefatigable lawyer has contributed to "legitimizing" the fight for women's rights by "imposing on the public square" subjects hitherto neglected by the Politics.
What has Gisèle Halimi brought to the fight for women's rights in France?
Throughout her life, Gisèle Halimi has brought the issue of women's rights to the public. As she did during the Algerian war in her fight against torture. Today we speak of "convergence of struggles", but at the time, Gisèle Halimi already carried a form of contiguity of struggles. She was a politician, not only because she had political activities strictly speaking, but because she knew how to impose subjects in the public space which were not there before. She was also an intellectual who thought feminism. In 2003 already in a forum at Le Monde Diplomatique , she pointed to a “continuum of violence ” in violence against women. She had a very clear idea of what the oppression of women was. And she did not only lead the fight for the decriminalization of abortion, she also committed to the criminalization of rape, which, let us remember, was considered a simple offense until a change in the law in 1980.
The Bobigny trial, during which Gisèle Halimi was defending a young woman prosecuted for having an abortion after being raped, did he mark a turning point in France?
At the time I briefly taught in a high school in the Paris suburbs. I remember that one of my final year students intervened about this trial which was being held and said: "That will set a precedent". It struck me because it meant that at home we were discussing this trial. By bringing the fight for the right to abortion to the judiciary, Gisèle Halimi allowed this debate to be legitimized. We must not forget that at that time in France, feminist activists were very criticized, ridiculed and mocked, they were in the streets and few in republican institutions. This trial changed everything. By bringing abortion into an institution like the judicial institution, she pushed the state to take charge of this issue and she brought the feminist struggle out of political illegitimacy.
Why has his voice carried beyond militant circles?
Because her journey was obviously coherent and because she won her battles. She was also supported by Simone de Beauvoir, both in her fight against torture in Algeria and during the Bobigny trial. It was very important support.
What feminist thought or current did she subscribe to?
Gisèle Halimi did not carry a feminist "utopia" and was not revolutionary. She defended the politics of feminism. That is to say, she took on the political dimension of this fight and refused to make a "division" in violence against women. When she spoke of the continuum in 2003, she refused precisely this division and maintained that there was indeed a link between sexist insult, slapping and rape. Today, even if the feminist struggle is less depoliticized, this division still persists.
Society
Lawyer and feminist figure Gisèle Halimi has died at the age of 93
"Young girls do not realize the importance of this fight"- Violence against women
- Lawyer
- Womens rights
- Society
- Abortion
- Feminism
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