Created in 2013, the High Council for Gender Equality helps to stimulate public debate on equality issues and evaluates public policies in this area. Throughout this decade, the work of this body has proved invaluable. It has led to several improvements in public policy and has raised the profile of certain issues.
Equipop participates in the work of the HCE from an international perspective. Equipop has been a member since 2019. Since the beginning of its second term in 2022, Equipop has co-chaired the Feminist Diplomacy, International and European Issues Committee. In early May 2024, through a memo to members and an article published in Mediapart, the HCE's salaried staff reported a toxic work environment and sexist, racist, and homophobic comments made by the president. It is essential and urgent to shed light on these accusations and, more broadly, on the working conditions at the HCE, which must be a safe workplace in line with the values upheld by the institution. Equipop hopes that an investigation will, as a first step, allow employees to express themselves in a calm atmosphere. In the medium term, it hopes to rebuild a clarified and healthier way of working. In an environment where the rights of women and gender minorities are under attack from all sides, we are in dire need of functional spaces that unite around the values and struggles for equality.
