Feminicides in France: "We need a general mobilization to save these lives"

Since the 70 feminicide mark was crossed on June 26, several forums have called on the president and the government to act. A first text, "Protect them!", Written by a group of relatives of victims, was published Saturday, June 29, in Le Parisien. A second, "Feminicides are not inevitable: Mr. President, react," is the work of activist Caroline de Haas and was published Thursday, July 4 in Le Monde.

If the subject is widely publicized since the beginning of the week, the count does not stop. Two other women have since lost their lives to bring to 72 the number of feminicides in France between January 1 and July 4, 2019, according to the Facebook group "Féminicides by companions or ex". An increase from previous years: 130 women were murdered in 2018 and 123 in 2017, according to the same group.

A rally will be organized on the Place de la République, in Paris, on Saturday, July 6th, at the initiative of the Collective of families and relatives of victims of feminicide and the Women's Foundation. For the president of this association, Anne-Cécile Mailfert, interviewed by France 24, "it takes a general mobilization of institutions and society to save these lives".

Saturday, July 6, at 17h, we find ourselves in Republic (Paris) to demand from @gouvernementFR measures against # Feminicides. Join us ! # ProtectThe https://t.co/vDzjx13ouM pic.twitter.com/HQVJiNhj4c

France 24: A 72nd feminicide occurred in the night from Wednesday to Thursday, near Reims. Why are so many women killed by their spouse or former spouse in France ?

Anne-Cécile Mailfert: The problem in France is that we have laws that are poorly enforced or not sufficiently applied. We can not protect women in danger of death because our country is not doing what it takes to prevent women from dying. It is screaming about the filing of complaints: these are often transformed into handrails, or they are not followed by effect.

There is also a structural explanation. We live in a society where there are still inequalities between women and men, which generates violence. The reasons are related to machismo, men who think that women can be their property, who think they can be violent when they do not have what they want.

In your opinion, is the state responsible ?

It's still crazy that we can not protect women who are nevertheless making the move to go to a police station. There are shortcomings in the way laws are enforced and today we need a general mobilization of institutions to save those lives. It is not normal that the complaints do not always go up to the prosecutor or that the judge of the family affairs delays in issuing, even refuses to issue a protection order! In some places, it arrives quickly, but in other areas, it sometimes takes eight months!

>> To see: Violence against women: "There is a problem of training of health professionals"

You are organizing a rally on Saturday in Paris. What exactly are you asking ?

The watchword for the government is "Protect them!" We call for a Grenelle of violence against women to mobilize society as a whole. Measures to reduce the number of casualties immediately must be taken. The example to follow is Spain, which has put in place many measures to fight effectively against feminicides. In the first place, the staff likely to hear the voices of victims - doctors, police officers, judges - have all been trained and women are no longer afraid to speak. They know that their word will be heard. They also benefit from legal aid. Finally, cases of violence against women are handled by specific courts and the media is also involved in paying close attention to each case.

To read: #WeAll: against sexist and sexual violence, you need "an electroshock"

In France, victims often lack information. Most of the murdered women are not followed by associations and have never called 3919 [national listening number for women victims of violence, Ed]. Yet they had all shown signals. It is urgent to put an end to the failures.