France's femicide crisis: Violence against women in France takes various forms

By: M. Sharifi

In France, women are increasingly subjected to various forms of sexual harassment. The High Council for Gender Equality (HCE) surveyed 2,500 people and found that gender-based attitudes in all professions had increased. In the study, 22% of women between the ages of 18 and 24 indicated that their husbands exercised "psychological control or intense jealousy," while 15% reported being insulted and beaten. This represents 20% of women aged 50 to 64.

This survey also indicated that 22% of young adults aged 18 to 24 had been sexually assaulted.

According to the results of this poll, not only has sex discrimination not lessened in France, but 37% of women have been compelled to engage in sexual relations without their consent.

While 80% of French women reported being treated less favourably than males, over 20% of men aged 25 to 34 admitted to making foul-mouthed boasts about sex to garner social respect. In addition, 23% believed that males should sometimes employ violence to earn respect. One-fourth of the men polled also minimised the severity of sexual assault and said that it had been exaggerated.

Meanwhile, the plague of domestic violence against women in France is on the rise, with at least nine women having been murdered in the previous month.

The website "Les Jours" published a report on the rise of domestic violence in France. Nine women were killed by their husbands or fiancés in January 2023. Five of these victims were between the ages of 18 and 22, and four of them were killed with firearms.

Two of the victims allegedly went to the police before their killings to report that their husbands were torturing them, but authorities declined to investigate their claims.

This article reports that both the mother and her three-year-old daughter were slain. According to official figures, at least 109 women in France were victims of domestic violence in 2022.