WILPF/PeaceWomen themes covered:

General Women, Peace and Security:  4/16

Conflict Prevention:  3/16

Disarmament:  3/16

Displacement and Humanitarian Response:  3/16

Participation: 6/16

Peace Processes: 4/16

Peacekeeping: 4/16

Protection: 2/16

Reconstruction and Peacebuilding: 2/16

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: 3/16

Implementation: 3/16

Justice, Rule of Law, SSR: 8/16

Human Rights: 1/16

On average France covered  22 % of WPS concepts in the open debates in 2019, the highest among the P5 countries. While France made the most references to the implementation of WPS, disarmament and participation of women in all aspects, they also highlighted the militarization of women. 

WILPF/PeaceWomen themes covered:

General Women, Peace and Security: 0/2

Conflict Prevention: 0/2

Disarmament: 1/2

Displacement and Humanitarian Response: 0/2

Participation: 1/2

Peace Processes: 0/2

Peacekeeping: 0/2

Protection: 0/2

Reconstruction and Peacebuilding: 0/2

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: 0/2

Implementation: 0/2

Justice, Rule of Law, SSR: 1/2

Human Rights: 0/2

WILPF/PeaceWomen themes covered:

General Women, Peace and Security: 0/1

Conflict Prevention: 1/1

Disarmament: 0/1

Displacement and Humanitarian Response: 0/1

Participation: 0/1

Peace Processes: 0/1

Peacekeeping: 0/1

Protection: 0/1

Reconstruction and Peacebuilding: 0/1

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: 0/1

Implementation: 0/1

Justice, Rule of Law, SSR: 0/1

Human Rights: 0/1

Even though France receives a full grade for WPS sensitive language in this open debate, they only referred to the conflict prevention theme.  Overall the sub-topics highlighted by the P5 countries in this debate included:  1. Role of UNSC and other UN bodies on the security impact of climate change. 2. Improvement of early warning systems and the conduction of integrated climate risk assessments. 3. Welcomed UNSC resolution 2349, addressing the role of climate change in the violent conflict in the Lake Chad basin.

WILPF/PeaceWomen themes covered:

General Women, Peace and Security: 0/1

Conflict Prevention: 0/1

Disarmament: 1/1

Displacement and Humanitarian Response: 1/1

Participation: 0/1

Peace Processes: 0/1

Peacekeeping: 1/1

Protection: 1/1

Reconstruction and Peacebuilding: 0/1

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: 0/1

Implementation: 0/1

Justice, Rule of Law, SSR: 1/1

Human Rights: 0/1

N/A

In 2019, France did not make any new commitments nor did they provide updates on commitments from past years on WPS.  

Arms Transfer Revenue in 2018: $185,000,000

UN Women Government Total Contribution in 2018: $740,000

Military Expenditure in 2018: $63.8 billion.

In 2018, France was ranked 8 of 189 countries. 

Researcher’s Note: The figures used above are from the 2019 Human Development Report which has the rankings for 2018. The 2020 Human Development Report is not published as of October 2020. Consultations have been scheduled till December 2020 and “the work on the 2020 HDR will continue through the summer and fall”.

France was ranked 12 among 149 participating countries in 2018.

Researcher’s Note: In 2019, WEF published the Gender Gap Report 2020 instead of a Gender Gap Report 2019. This was done to change the launch of their Gender Gap Report series to the first quarter of every year.  The above-mentioned data reflects the rank tabulated using sources from 2019 as indicated in the report (see resource 1).  

Researcher’s Note: France has acceded to the following treaties: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: 1976; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: 1976; Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others ; Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II). 

Contingent: 593 men, 62 women, 655 total 

Experts on Mission:  1 men,  1 women, 2 total 

Police: 21 men, 2 women, 23 total 

Staff:  50 men, 0 women,  50 total 

Total peacekeepers provided:  665 men, 65 women, 730 total 

The operations with the most French personnel are UNIFIL (Lebanon), MINUSCA (Central African Republic) and MINUSMA (Mali). France is also the 6th largest contributor to the budget of peacekeeping operations, and the 2nd largest troop contributor of the UNSC P5 countries. 

Researcher’s Note: While all the Permanent Five countries focus on peacekeeping as an important element of the WPS agenda and to tackle sexual violence in conflict settings, WILPF believes that to fully prevent all forms of sexual violence it is essential to address the root causes of violence, including structural inequalities, discrimination and patriarchal norms.

Total number of allegations in 2019: 80 

France peacekeepers involved: 0

In 2019, the UN recorded 80 allegations of sexual abuse mostly in Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo, but there are many cases that go unreported. While no French peacekeepers were involved in the SEA cases reported in 2019, in the past (2013-2014) French peacekeepers have been accused but not legally charged of sexually abusing children while on a peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic. 

Spotlight. Fédération Nationale Solidarité Femmes (FNSF) is a French non-profit organization that was established as a result of the feminist movement to fight against violence against women. FNSF manages the call number 3919 intended for victims of violence which is a free and anonymous number accessible 7 days a week from 9 am to 10 pm. In 2019, twenty listeners handled an average of 250 calls per week, with an increase of upto 1,500 calls per day. The FNSF brings together over sixty associations from all over France, who offer specialized support to women victims of violence. They take into account both the physical and psychological impact of the violence and provide support on the social, economic and legal level. All the members of the FNSF receive public funding, however, only 61% of the associations request private funding. In 2014, the FNSF extended it’s mission of the 3919 to all forms of violence against women such as, domestic violence, sexual violence, forced marriages, female genital mutilation and violence at work. Since 2006, FNSF has been working with the police and gendarmerie services to support women victims of violence. 

France has two institutions for training law enforcement and security officials: Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Police and Écoles de la Gendarmerie Nationale (EOGN). 

In 2019, the EOGN trained cadets on reception, contact and assistance to victims of violence. The cadets were also taught about the means put in place on violence against women by the interministerial mission for the protection of women victims of violence and the fight against human trafficking (MIPROF). 

Additionally, European Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) organised two webinars for law enforcement officials in Europe focussed on gender in 2019, namely: Gender-Specific measures in Anti-Trafficking Actions and Gender-Based Violence: Risk Assessment and Management as a Prevention Measure for Intimate Partner Violence and Femicide.  

France launched its most recent NAP in 2015 for the period of 2015 - 2018. France’s third NAP starting from 2019 is yet to be released. 

Although France currently does not have a NAP, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that, “In 2019, France set the “Women, Peace and Security” agenda as one of its priorities in its fight for gender equality, this having been erected as one of great causes of the President of the Republic’s term. During the French presidency of the Security Council in March of 2019, France, along with Germany, put the topic “Women, peace and security” on the Council’s agenda by organizing an informal meeting (Arria) on the participation of women in peace processes. France made a point of underlining, during the open debate which followed the adoption of SCR 2493, on October 30, 2019, that progress remains to be made, particularly in terms of the protection of women defenders of human rights, sexual and reproductive rights, and the participation of civil society in decision-making.”

However, France has an International Strategy on Gender Equality (2018- 2022) which like its previous NAPs is also mostly external-focussed, and has very superficial mention of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. 

France, along with Mexico and UN Women, is co-hosting the Generation Equality Forum, designed to accelerate action towards gender equality over the coming years.

In 2019, France’s military expenditure amounted to $ 50.1 billion. In 2019, France was among the top five largest global suppliers of arms, who together supplied 75% of all arms exports. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), “France’s military spending rose by 1.6 per cent in 2019 to reach $50.1 billion. Over the decade 2010–19 its military spending increased by 3.5 per cent. The rise in 2019 followed the adoption of the Military Planning Law for 2019–25, which aims to bring France’s spending on the military in line with the NATO target of 2 percent of GDP by 2025.” 

The proportion of women in the Upper House, or the Senate (Sénat), was 32.2% in 2019.  

While the proportion of women in the Upper House remained stagnant from 2018, the proportion of women in the Lower House declined marginally by 0.3% compared to 2018.

In 2018,  52.9 % of ministerial positions were held by women in France. 

1. “Parity. 38 female prefects and a new head for the CRS,” Ouest France, 2020. Accessed September 25, 2020. 

2. “Les Femmes Montent en grade dans la police et l’armee,” LeParisien, 2020. Accessed September 25, 2020. 

3. “Vannes. Chez les gendarmes les femmes ont trouve leur place,” Ouest France, 2019. Accessed September 25, 2020. 

4. “Polices Municpale et Nationale Gendarmerie Quelle Place pour les femmes?,” EmploiPublic, 2015. Accessed September 25, 2020.

According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice, 66% of the total 8,537 magistrates in 2018 were women. 66% of the “premier grade” (lower ranking) judges and 77% of the “second grade” (higher ranking) judges were women. But only 46% of the most senior (“hors-hiérarchie") positions were occupied by women. In 2018, the Ministry of Justice appointed Magistrate Isabelle Rome as the senior official for gender equality at the Ministry of Justice to ensure gender parity in staffing of the courts. 

The following figures provide additional insight into women’s participation, standing and experience within the labour force in France in 2019: 

• The estimated earned income per year (US$): $ 30,900 for women; $45,400 for men.   
• Legislators, senior officials and managers: 34.5 % for women; 65.5 % for men.
• Professional and technical workers: 50.8% for women; 49.2 % for men.

Girls' enrolment in primary education increased marginally from 2018 by 0.2% for girls and by 0.2% for boys. 

 Girls’ enrolment in secondary education increased marginally (0.8%) from 2018, and boys enrolment increased by 0.9%. Boys and girls’ literacy rate remained the same and consistent with 2018.

The principle of gender equality was introduced in the Preamble to the 1946 Constitution, which, like the 1958 Constitution, referenced the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.

French women have been eligible to vote and serve in office since 1944. However, the number of French women in office remained low for 50 years. In 1945, women represented 5% of National Assembly députés. In 1996, they still made up only 6% of députés, although they constituted 53% of the electorate. Following the 1997 legislative elections, women now make up close to 11% of députés, but still only 5.9% of senators.

On June 28, 1999, articles 3 and 4 of the French Constitution were amended. The law promoting equal access for men and women to elected positions was adopted on June 6, 2000. The 1999 law has also introduced a de facto quota system for women in French politics. 

France has focused on extending parity through intersectoral legislation (including the implementation of new laws concerning parity and gender equality in 2012 and 2014 respectively) surrounding the establishment of gender quotas (and imposition of financial penalties for non-compliance). 

The French National Assembly’s approval on Jan. 22 2014 of an amendment that frees women seeking an abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy from having to justify their decision is a refreshing step forward for reproductive rights. The bill deletes language from a 1975 law that gave women the right to an abortion within 12 weeks if the pregnancy caused “distress.”

Beginning with the Law of 22 December on equal pay in 1972, at least 12 laws were adopted on the topic before 2014. In 2019, France issued a decree (No. 2019-15), under the act “For the Freedom to Choose one’s Professional Future” of 2018 to introduce elements that would eliminate the gender pay gap in France. Currently, women in France earn 25 percent less than men. 

In France, the Défenseur des Droits (an independent administrative body) works to ensure that targets of discrimination have meaningful access to justice (for example, by providing them with information, legal aid and, where applicable, mediation services, helping them to gather evidence of discriminatory acts, and awareness-raising).

France provides free access to all legal proceedings. France also provides protection and aid to victims in several forms (through the publication of guides, conduct of training for those who work with victims, the establishment of hotlines and points of contact, etc.) 

French courts have confirmed that people have all who come before it must be granted access to sign language interpreters. Where victims reporting crimes require interpreters, they will be provided with one.

In law, discrimination is unfavorable treatment which must generally meet two cumulative conditions: be based on a criterion defined by law (sex, age, disability, etc.) AND arise from a situation referred to by law (access to a job, service, accommodation, etc.).To date, the law recognizes more than 25 criteria of discrimination. Thus, disadvantaging a person because of their origins, sex, age, disability, opinions ... is prohibited by law and international conventions to which France adheres.

The most important restriction on access to an effective remedy in relation to discrimination concerns the statute of limitations to facts. By the Act of June 17 2008 relating to the reform of the prescription in civil matters, the legislature has simplified the rules of civil prescription by establishing the principle that "personal or movable actions are lapsed by 5 years from the day the holder of a right knew or should have known the facts enabling him/her to exercise it ". In parallel to this rule, the legislature has also discreetly introduced a significant change in the Labour Code by including a new Article L. 1134-5 which provides that "an action for damages resulting from discrimination is prescribed by five years after the disclosure of the acts of discrimination".  

The Government of France fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.  In particular, the government’s efforts “included increasing prosecutions and convictions, adopting a national action plan, and increasing cooperation on international investigations. Although the government meets the minimum standards, it decreased investigations and did not report full sentencing data for convicted traffickers. The government assisted fewer victims compared to the last reporting period. The government continued to lack coordinated and comprehensive data on trafficking; it did not provide adequate resources for the national rapporteur; it did not report awarding restitution to any victims; and it did not deploy sufficient efforts against labor trafficking. The government made uneven protection efforts, including assisting fewer victims than the prior year.”

 A report released by the French Ministry of Justice showed that, between 2015 and 2016, 80 percent of domestic violence complaints were dropped by public prosecutors. In 2019, 52,000 complaints for rape or sexual assault were recorded by the French police and gendarmerie services. As for the legal proceedings, the latest figures available relate to the year 2018. Out of 34,000 people suspected of having committed sexual violence, less than 5,800 have been convicted. Currently, only one out of 10 complaints filed in France by women victims of intimate partner violence reach the courtroom.

France dedicated 360 million euros ($396m) to violence against women in 2020, a similar amount to 2019. However, the High Council for Equality between Women and Men stated that atleast a minimum of 506 million euros is needed to fight sexual violence in France. 

In 2019, the French government set up a free, anonymous and 24 hour reporting portal for victims of sexual or gender-based violence. But advocacy groups said that the proposals, which seek to protect women from violent partners and to encourage them to file complaints, lacked the funding to be truly effective.

3919 is the national helpline in France intended for victims of domestic violence. 

In a new report analysing the country's implementation of an international convention on violence against women - the Istanbul Convention - experts found insufficiencies in the French system. The report critiques the judicial practice of bringing cases to correctional court, making it possible to reclassify rape as sexual assault.This "minimises the seriousness of the rape" making victims "bear the consequences of the dysfunction of the judicial system", the report states. 

France does not have a separate veterans affairs office for women veterans, instead, the National Office for Veterans and War Victims under the Ministry of the Armed Forces oversees all matters including employment, health and education benefits for all French veterans. In particular, the ONACVG fulfils three missions: Recognition of veterans, social action and reparation, solidarity and memory. In particular, the ONACVG disburses funds and pensions owed to the veterans via departmental branches. They also manage the veterans disability card and manage policy for the benefits of orphans and widows’ of French military personnels. 

France established its offender registration law in 2004, which went into full force in 2005 and is retroactively applicable (though there is no public disclosure of any kind for any registration information). 

In 2019, the French government announced plans to create 1,000 new places in shelters for the victims of domestic violence as outrage grows over the number of women killed by a current or former partner.

The National Federation of Solidarity for Women (FNSF) is a network of organisations that provide guidance and shelter for women victims of abuse with an anonymous and free-of-charge hotline. Institut National d’Aide aux Victimes et de Médiation” (INAVEM) in France advise and help victims and guide them through some aspects of the judicial process. They also help with claims for compensation.

Although France does not have formal rape crisis centers, it does have NGOs that provide legal, social and health services to survivors of rape.

From the 2020 Trafficking in Person Report: 

“The Ministry of Solidarity and Health and the City of Paris provided funding for the Ac-Se system, an NGO-managed network of 50 NGO-run shelters and specialized NGOs assisting adult victims of sex and labor trafficking. Both police and NGOs referred victims to Ac-Se. While only partial data on victim assistance was available, Ac-Se reported assisting 64 trafficking victims in 2019, a decrease compared to 86 in 2018 and 79 in 2017. Ac-Se provided victims with shelter, legal, medical, and psychological services; in 2019, 57 victims, including 12 children, received shelter, and seven were assisted with voluntary repatriation. 

Local governments provided French language classes to victims, and some victims could qualify for subsidized housing and job training programs, but the government did not report the number of victims provided with these benefits. The government, through the national employment agency, provided some foreign victims with an initial stipend of €350 ($390) a month; civil society reported the conditions for being granted a stipend were not uniform and varied by region. The central and municipal governments also partially funded the operation of a shelter in Paris and a small number of emergency apartments external to the Ac-Se system. There were limited accommodation options for male victims. 

To limit re-traumatization, victims usually had access to a psychologist during court proceedings. Victims were entitled to receive a 30- day reflection period during which they could decide whether to lodge a complaint or participate in criminal proceedings against a trafficker; however, some authorities were not familiar with the reflection period and did not offer it in practice.”

The Ministry of Interior registered 154,620 asylum seekers in 2019 (compared to 139,330 in 2018), out of this 143, 030 were first time applicants and 11,590 were subsequent applicants. In 2019, 132,614 people lodged asylum applications (compared to 122,743 in 2018). 

France’s refugee acceptance rate in 2019 was 14.7% (14,066 decisions) and the subsidiary protection rate was 8.9% (8,466 decisions), while the rejection rate reached 76.4% (73,045 decisions). In 2019, the government announced that starting from 2020 for the first time it will establish an annual quota system to grant visas to skilled immigrants entering France. 

France has 24 detention centers and in 2019, 3371 children were detained. In 2018, 43,609 people were placed in an administrative detention centre (CRA). 

In 2019, France has budgeted more than 116 million euros to maintain and expand its detention system, which is a major cause for concern regarding human rights in France. Moreover, France also adopted new legal provisions which doubled the maximum length of immigration detention to 90 days and allows for the re-detention of people shortly after being released from a previous stay in detention. These provisions also fail to prohibit the detention of accompanied children. In addition, a new asylum law adopted in 2018 lacks important safeguards for people seeking protection. 

In France the integration of refugees is recognised through common law, i.e., they are treated equally to any other French citizen and can benefit from all mechanisms of social protection.  However, the government has been criticised for neglecting other aspects of integration, such as language training and literacy training.