PARIS (Washington Insider Magazine) – As the presidential election race in France enters its last week, with Emmanuel Macron set to face Marine Le Pen on Apr 24, feminist organizations in France are scrutinising the 2 candidates’ manifesto pledges on women’s rights.
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Throughout the election season, Osez le féminisme, a renowned feminist group in France, established a “feministometer” — a tool that assesses the politicians’ plans for women’s rights.
The “feministometer” considers the politicians’ platforms, their campaign propaganda, and their political record.
Rally Across the Country In her presidential campaign brochures delivered to French voters, President Le Pen emphasizes the significance of women. Her manifesto, though, makes no reference to women. Women are not mentioned in any of the subject brochures on her campaign webpage. Women are only addressed twice in the “Family” pamphlet, as mothers in the segment on birthing and surrogate motherhood.
Le Pen speaks extensively on the battle against “harassers,” whose actual names she suggests being added to the sex offenders’ list, although she does not address rape or sexual assault specifically.
The “feministometer” also put initiatives for single mothers to test.
Women must not vote for Marine Le Pen, argues Ghada Hatem-Gantzer, an obstetrician-gynecologist and founder of the Maison des Femmes in Saint-Denis, which has been housing victims of assault since 2016.
In an open letter published in the French magazine Le Journal du Dimanche, the Women’s Association as well as 4 of France’s largest women’s rights organizations urged the 2 presidential contenders to develop a 10-point crisis plan to address gender inequality.
The request was made by Anne-Cécile Mailfert, President of the Women’s Association, who revealed that she did not really even persuade Le Pen to endorse the memo.
Many organisations believe that if Le Pen becomes president of France, she would weaken abortion laws, despite the fact that she has never publicly stated her opposition to abortion. Well before law was enacted by the French legislature in February 2022, Le Pen spoke against expanding the time restriction for abortion treatments from 12 to 14 weeks.
Osez le féminisme’s Fabienne El-Khoury notes that Le Pen frequently refers to “abortions of convenience” – implying that women prefer abortion rather than contraceptives – and exaggerates abortion in her political speeches, which is characteristic of anti-abortionists.
The Women’s Foundation’s Mailfert claimed she had sent Macron a 10-point crisis plan to address gender inequality.
Macron has stated that gender equality would be a major focus of his next 5-year tenure, since there is still much to be done. However, he needs to present himself to feminist organisations.
Françoise Brié, head of the national association Solidarité Femmes, which focuses in receiving, assisting, and providing shelter to women victims of assault in France, says advancement has been made in some aspects, notably on the regulatory front, citing the prohibition on family conciliation in domestic violence incidents implemented in 2020 as an example. Osez le féminisme, for its side, claims that there have been moves in the right way, but that they had not gone far enough.
Evidently, the limitation period for sexual assaults against juveniles has increased from 20 to 30 years, and feminist organisations have applauded the increase in parental leave from 14 to 28 days, while lamenting Macron’s opposition towards a more bold European mandate that would have prolonged paternity leave to 4 months.
El Khoury has expressed her dissatisfaction with Macron’s tenure in office. She believes that the departing president made a lot of fake promises and public relations actions that were not backed up by resources.
On pay equality, Osez le féminisme accuses Macron of “feminism washing,” which means that he exhibits feminist labels, check boxes, whenever the effort and resources are not there.
The organizations also questioned the inadequacies of the pay equality index, which awards good grades to all employers regardless of whether or not they follow the law.
Finally, women’s rights organisations deemed Gérald Darmanin’s selection as interior minister during July 2020, when he was charged with rape, to be completely unacceptable.
Darmanin was never charged in the case, and his testimony was limited to that of an assisting witness. The Paris prosecutor requested that the case be dropped on January 13, 2022, leaving the door open for the inquiry to be revived.
