Sun 21 November 2021:
On Saturday, large-scale rallies took place across France, demanding that the government do more to prevent violence against women.
The protests came amid rising public outrage and conversations about domestic violence. In France, a woman is murdered every three days by her current or former boyfriend.
Protesters took to the streets of Paris and other cities to demonstrate. They marched across the capital with a banner that said, “Stop sexist and sexual violence.”
“Down with patriarchy,” “transphobia kills,” and “stop femicides!” were among the sentiments carried on posters.
Danse et musique kurde à la manifestation contre les violences faites aux femmes#Paris#JinJiyanAzadi#NousToutes pic.twitter.com/WtqTGIf6Xt
— Conseil Démocratique Kurde en France (@Le_CDKF) November 20, 2021
Saturday’s protest was part of a week of action around the world to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25.
Activists have urged President Emmanuel Macron and his cabinet to increase funding on violence against women prevention from €360 million ($406 million) to €1 billion.
They also advocated for increased financing for domestic violence shelters. According to a survey released on Thursday by the Fondation des Femmes, only about 40% of victims are granted a space in a shelter and only 12% receive legal and psychological assistance.
During an interview on Europe 1 radio on Saturday, Equality Minister Elisabeth Moreno defended the government’s track record. She cited the 60 percent increase in emergency accommodation places, police officer training, and the introduction of emergency phones for victims of assault as examples.
More than 2,500 such phones were being deployed in the country in September, Moreno said.
More than 220,000 women are suffering physical or sexual abuse by their partners each year, according to a 2017 nationwide study.
_____________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
