WILPF/PeaceWomen themes covered:

General Women, Peace and Security:  3/16

Conflict Prevention:  2/16

Disarmament:  3/16

Displacement and Humanitarian Response:  4/16

Participation: 5/16

Peace Processes: 5/16

Peacekeeping: 5/16

Protection: 5/16

Reconstruction and Peacebuilding: 0/16

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: 4/16

Implementation: 6/16

Justice, Rule of Law, SSR: 12/16

Human Rights: 6/16

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WILPF/PeaceWomen themes covered:

General Women, Peace and Security: 1/4

Conflict Prevention:1/4

Disarmament: 1/4

Displacement and Humanitarian Response: 0/4

Participation: 2/4

Peace Processes: 0/4

Peacekeeping: 1/4

Protection: 0/4

Reconstruction and Peacebuilding: 0/4

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: 0/4

Implementation: 2/4

Justice, Rule of Law, SSR: 3/4

Human Rights: 2/4

WILPF/PeaceWomen themes covered:

General Women, Peace and Security: 0/1

Conflict Prevention: 0/1

Disarmament: 0/1

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: 1/1

Implementation: 0/1

Justice, Rule of Law, SSR: 1/1

Human Rights: 1/1

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In 2018, France identified a renewed commitment to implementation: France developed its third national plan of action for the WPS agenda, which was presented in the first quarter of 2019, and France committed to making the agenda a priority of its presidency of the Security Council in 2019. 

In addition to identifying new commitments in 2018, France provided the following updates on its 2017 commitments: 

SGBV: France has supported the inclusion of a specific criterion on sexual violence in the sanctions regime concerning the Central African Republic and the inclusion of gender-related issues in the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, which in many respects is a model to follow. Protection: In Syria, France funded an initiative to provide emergency medical assistance to protect women in a conflict where they are too often targeted, in particular through assistance in terms of sexual and reproductive health or psychological support services designed to improve the living conditions of women, especially those giving birth in very difficult conditions. Implementation: In Libya, France has supported training workshops for young entrepreneurs in Misrata, 50 per cent of whom were women, with the aim of strengthening the Libyan econom

Arms Transfer Revenue in 2017: $2,162,000,000

UN Women Government Total Contribution in 2017: $680,000

In 2017, France was ranked 16 of 189 countries. 

Researcher's note: The 2019 Human Development Report will not be released until November 2019, as it is being significantly re-envisioned in order to "go beyond the dominant discourse focused on income disparities."

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Contintent Troops: 615 men, 47 women, 662 total.

Experts on Mission: 2 men, 0 women, 2 total. 

Individual Police: 28 men, 4 women, 32 total. 

Staff officers, 47 men, 1 woman, 48 total. 

Total, peacekeepers provided: 692 men, 52 women, 744 total. 

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Spotlight: Grassroots. To better understand the nature and extent of partnership between women-led civil society and the government, WILPF performs a more in-depth analysis of the actions, efforts and impact of each nation's leading women's organisation(s). For our study of France, WILPF examined La Coordination française pour le lobby européen des femmes (or CLEF).

CLEF is a membership organisation that functions as an umbrella body for women's charities, with over 60 members. CLEF brings together women-led NGOs to be more effective and sustainable through the provision of training, information, resources and one-to-one support on a range of organisational development issues while also lobbying decision makers on behalf of the women’s not-for-profit sector for improved representation and funding. 

In 2018, CLEF published eight press releases, prepared four official correspondences (respectively, to the President, the Parliament, the Minister for Gender Equality, and a general "Gender Parity" alert), published a piece in the Huffington Post and presented a statement surrounding the Commission on the Status of Women to United Nations Social and Economic Council (a feature of CLEF's work since 2010). Mobilisation and support for its member organisations included the participation and organisation of two social media campaigns and 10+ events, trainings and conferences.

In terms of service provision, CLEF's focus remained consistent in 2018: to strengthen coordination across women-led NGOs (through the organisation and promotion of coordination/networking/information-sharing events and trainings) and improve upon and oversee the implementation of national, regional and international policies/legislation.Either as an umbrella organisation or way of its members (or both), CLEF supports the provision of the services in the following areas: education, anti-violence, women's empowerment, gender-related training, political participation, anti-human trafficking, women's health, lobbying and policymaking and fundraising.

CLEF's list of institutional partners include the Minister for Gender Equality's office, the Mayor's office (Paris), and the National Consultative Commission of Human Rights (CNCDH).

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France launched their second National Action Plan (NAP) in 2015 for the period inclusive of 2015-2018.  The second NAP, external in focus, highlights initiatives created to advance the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda; introduces an additional strategic “pillar” ("fighting impunity") and expanded others (including that of "developing political and diplomatic action"). 

The foundation of the second French NAP remains the 2010 NAP, which lists four objectives: the protection of women, the participation of women in conflict and post-conflict situations, raising awareness of women’s rights and development of political and diplomatic action. 

France, in developing its third NAP, should turn its focus inward and focus on gathering disaggregated data surrounding its national achievement of its strategic objectives.

In 2017, France’s military expenditure was $60.4 billion. 

The proportion of women in the Upper House, or the Senate (Sénat), was 32.2% in 2018.  

The 2018 figures represent a slight increase from 2017 (Lower: 39%; Upper: 29.3%). 

It is important to note that, though parity laws (which require gender quotas backed by significant financial penalties for non-compliance) implemented in 2000 have significantly boosted the statistics on paper -- France has come a long way from the 5.7% of women in parliament as of 1993-- women remain marginalized in the actual exercise of political power. That women politicians continue to confront pervasive stereotypes and contemptuous attitudes and are considered illegitimate by their male colleagues is well documented (though, in terms of hard data and attention from academia, under-researched).

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The interior ministry in France is responsible for two national police forces: the Gendarmerie (the "military" police force) and the Police Nationale (the "civilian" police force).

In 2018, Women represented 20% of the national Gendarmerie (only 8% of officers were women).

According to the Interior Minister, in 2018, 3.23% (357 out of a total of 11,039) of the members of the general reserve (Compagnies républicaines de sécurité or CRS) of the French National Police were women.

The French judiciary is categorized by two grades, the "premier grade" (lower ranking) the "second grade" (higher ranking), and the "hors-hiérarchie" (highest ranking).

In France, the higher one climbs the ladder within the judiciary, the fewer women one will find. Among the total 8,537 magistrates in 2018, 66% were women. 66% of "premier grade" judges and 77% of the "second grade" judges were women. However, only 46% of the most senior  ("hors-hiérarchie") positions were occupied by women.

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In France, women were granted the right to vote in 1944, casting their first ballot in 1945. The role of women in French politics has grown slowly. (By 1993, only 5.7% of seats in France’s Parliament were occupied by women.)  The lack of women in politics prompted France to revise their constitution in 1999 to mandate gender-quotas in elected political bodies and to pass "parity laws" (which require all political parties to include equal numbers of men and women on party lists) in 2000. France revised its constitution again in 2008, to extend the parity clause to ‘social and professional responsibilities,’ thus enabling the adoption of a law imposing gender quotas on corporate boards in 2011. 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 Preamble to the Constitution of 1946 that prohibits discrimination with regard to the criteria of sex, race, belief and trade union activity, and of the current Constitution dated 1958 that contains a provision according to which “the nation ensures equality before the law of all citizens, whatever their ethnic origin, race or religion” (article 2 of the French Constitution). However, in 2018, French MPs removed the word "race" from the constitution and added a ban on gender discrimination as part of a rewrite.

Regarding sexual harassment laws, in France, there is no legal age of consent for sex. This means that, where a minor is a victim of sexual harassment or violence, there is no legal presumption of coercion. This leads to arguments in French court rooms such as those put forth in a recent sexual assault case, where attorneys for the perpetrator of the assault stated that the victim “was 11 years and 10 months old, so nearly 12 years old. It changes the story... So she is not a child," emphasizing that "we are not dealing with a sexual predator on a poor little faultless goose.”

A brief note on applied standards: WILPF's analysis of the above indicators is performed with attention to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women's general recommendation on women’s access to justice (CEDAW/C/GC/33). 

Though it is clear that, in 2018, women in France enjoy equal access to legal dispute systems and legal representation, the practicability of these rights is significantly less clear. Our ability to assess this indicator is limited by the dearth of data on the subject - a gap that must be rectified. 

The existence of non-discrimination laws is similarly well-documented, particularly in statistics that demonstrate increases in numbers of women largely resulting from the application of gender quotas implemented as a result of the parity laws (as, for example, those that demonstrate a pronounced increase in women in - for example - the political arena). However, it is critical to underline that ensuring the meaningful participation of women remains problematic. 

Courts and judicial bodies do exist in France, though their nebulous nature has been critiqued time and again (and has, at times, served as a hindrance for justice-seekers). 

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 trainings 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.

A brief note on applied standards: Our minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons reflect those outlined in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, and the United States' State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons reports (the primary source employed in our evaluation).  For more detailed discussions concerning these standards, check out our resources below.

According to the United States’ State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report, France is “fully compliant with the minimum standards” for the elimination of trafficking in persons: France increased international assistance and capacity building to prevent trafficking and adopted a new law requiring large companies to create plans to prevent labor exploitation by sub-contractors. However, there were areas in need of improvement. The French Government remains without comprehensive data on trafficking and quality control across shelters remains difficult. Some survivors were arrested and prosecuted without the appropriate screening for trafficking indicators. (Data concerning exact numbers of prosecutions and sentencings either has not been collected or is publicly unavailable.)

In 2018, France increased funding to its national helpline (3919) for women suffering from domestic violence.

The Institut National d’Aide aux Victimes et de Médiation offers a national helpline that is accessible from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM every day, which serves to guide victims and loved ones (particularly on some aspects of the judicial process). The Collectif Feministe Contre Le Viol provides a confidential answering service from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM every day, which offers listening, support (especially in terms of guidance surrounding services and access to specialist help), and solidarity to victims. On top of the TV campaign, which is part of the new measures, the government plans to increase funding and staff for the national helpline (3919) for women suffering from domestic violence.

In 1997, France established an emergency number ("1-1-5", answered 24/7) for those seeking accommodation. Primarily employed as a pillar in France's efforts to combat homelessness, this number is also used by those fleeing domestic violence. Initially, accommodation was provided "on the door." However, with the 2010 establishment of the Integrated Accomodation and Advice Services (SAIO), all callers who seek housing must be assessed by a social worker (who must then make a recommendation). The "gross inadequacy" of "accomodation stock" across France remains highly problematic.   

In 2018, filings of complaints alleging rape increased by 17 percent while sexual assault complaints increased by nearly 20 percent. The interior ministry emphasized the possible role of an increased "collective awareness of violence towards women born out of the [Harvey] Weinstein affair... and the MeToo movement," and the possibility that "...the higher number of victims... probably comes from increased reporting of such crimes and a reduction in tolerance for this type of violence."

Rape crisis centres do not exist in France. 

The legal definition of rape (viol) in France is: “any act of sexual penetration, whatever the type, upon a third party, through violence, threats or surprise”. Sexual assault (agression sexuelle) is defined as: “any sexual infringement carried out using violence, coercion, threats or surprise”.

Human Rights Watch*:

"In August, France adopted a new sexual violence law aimed at tackling sexual harassment and sexual violence against children. The law makes street harassment an offense, raises the statute of limitation on sex crimes against children from 20 to 30 years, and gives judges the power to rule on a case by case basis that sex by an adult with a child under 15 is rape but falls short of criminalizing all such sex with a child under 15 as rape. In September, a man was convicted of street harassment (“outrage sexiste”) for the first time under the new law and fined 300 euros (approximately $340)."

The French National Office for Veterans and Victims of War (ONACVG) operates in furtherance of three primary objectives: solidarity, recognition and reparation, and remembrance. Much of its social action and service provision falls under the umbrella of its solidarity mission (which manages a budget of €27 million).

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. Due to the decentralized nature of the services of women’s centres and shelters, there is limited information available surrounding them. 

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).

From the 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report: 

“The French government maintained its recovery support efforts.  The Ministry of Solidarity and Health, and the City of Paris provided funding for the AcSe system, an NGO-managed network of 45 NGO-run shelters and 23 specialized NGOs assisting adult victims of sex and labor trafficking. AcSe assisted 79 trafficking victims in 2017, compared with 82 in 2016, providing them shelter, legal, medical, and psychological services. Seventy-four were victims of sex trafficking, one of labor trafficking, and three were forced to commit a petty crime. The government maintained Ac-Se’s budget at €220,000 ($264,110) for 2018.

Local governments provided French language classes to victims, and some victims could qualify for subsidized housing and job training programs. The government, through the national employment agency, provided some foreign victims a stipend of €340 ($410) 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. Child trafficking victims were referred to the child welfare services (ASE) system. GRETA reported the existing ASE shelters varied in quality of care and many were not suited for the special assistance needs of child trafficking victims. During the reporting period, six child trafficking victims received services from ASE shelters. 

The government continued to operate a hotline for children in abusive situations, including trafficking. In 2017, hotline operators received 1,550 calls related to trafficking. AcSe, with assistance from 60 partner organisations, operated a separate hotline during the reporting period. The hotline received more than 900 calls and on average referred 50 trafficking cases a year to Ac-Se for assistance. The government had an NGO-run referral program to transfer victims detained, arrested, or placed in protective custody by law enforcement authorities to institutions that provided short-term care. Criminal trials for trafficking or aggravated pimping could be heard in private at the victim’s request. Victims could 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. Victims were eligible for temporary residence permits, regardless of whether they cooperated with police investigations. Trafficking victims were also eligible for international protection under refugee status or subsidiary protection status in cases where victims had a credible fear of retaliation, including from public authorities in their country of origin, if returned. Victims were eligible to receive restitution through the Crime Victims Compensation Program. The compensation request process often took several years to complete, and many victims had requests in progress.”

From Human Rights Watch*:

"In August, France adopted a flawed asylum and immigration law. The French Ombudsman, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and NGOs criticized the law for undermining access to asylum, including by weakening appeal rights and safeguards for those subject to accelerated asylum procedures. The law failed to ban detention of migrant children, despite six European Court of Human Rights rulings that such detention by France violated their rights. 

In April and May, the French ombudsman warned of the dire living conditions of migrants and asylum seekers in the camp of La Villette, in Paris, and in Grande-Synthe in northern France, and called for the camps’ dismantlement only if sustainable solutions respectful of fundamental rights are implemented. Authorities cleared the camps in late May and early September respectively. Living conditions for migrants and asylum seekers in the Calais area remain squalid and harassment of aid workers there by police continued.

Child protection authorities in Paris continued to use flawed age assessment procedures for unaccompanied migrant children, excluding many from care they need and are entitled to, leaving hundreds homeless.

In July, the Constitutional Council ruled that solidarity was among the highest values of the French republic and that assisting undocumented migrants should not therefore be criminalized “when these acts are carried out for humanitarian purposes.” This ruling was enshrined in the August immigration and asylum law. NGOs remain concerned that judges could narrowly interpret the humanitarian exception in a way that permits prosecutions.

Since late 2017, France’s asylum office selected 458 refugees currently in camps in Niger and Chad for resettlement. France pledged to resettle 3,000 refugees from that region before October 2019."