Equipop, in line with its April 15 press release, is one of around 40 associations that have signed an open letter issued by the Fondation des Femmes. They highlight the immense risk to women's rights posed by the far right coming to power in France.
We, women's rights organizations, are not fooled. While Marine Le Pen claims that voting for her, a woman, is voting for women's rights, her actions contradict this. We solemnly warn of the risks of setbacks for women's rights that her accession to the Presidency of the Republic would represent.
Internationally, it flaunts its closeness to leaders with discriminatory and ultra-reactionary policies such as Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, and Vladimir Putin. To those who might be tempted to "give it a try," in recent history or today in other countries, when the far right and parties allied with the National Rally are in power, women pay a heavy price. In 2017, with the support of Vladimir Putin, Russia decriminalized a large part of domestic violence. The danger of seeing such a policy in France one day is real—and our rights are fragile.
Like 77% of French women, we believe that women's rights issues were not adequately addressed during the presidential campaign. We presented the Emergency Plan for Equality to the candidates. We know that there is an urgent need for equality and to combat violence against women. We know that although the government has taken numerous initiatives in response to our campaigns during the five-year term that is coming to an end, its record is mixed in several respects, notably its refusal to provide better funding for combating and preventing violence, and the lack of ambitious policies to reduce inequalities. We continue to call on Emmanuel Macron to make a stronger commitment to women's rights. But it is now our responsibility to denounce an election that, if it were to take place, would be the greatest setback for women's rights.
Firstly, we would like to point out that Marine Le Pen, her party, and her supporters have always been the main opponents to abortion. They have regularly denounced so-called "elective abortions." In recent months, they have strongly opposed the extension of the time limit from 12 to 14 weeks.
In the National Assembly, as in the European Parliament, Marine Le Pen and her party's elected representatives have almost unanimously and systematically opposed legislation promoting gender equality – whether for equal pay, access to contraception, the fight against violence against women and gender-based violence, or the promotion of gender parity.
Finally, Marine Le Pen opposes emotional and sexual education in primary school, which is fundamental to preventing such violence among young people. Her supporters are even clearer: Eric Zemmour, for example, has turned the fight against feminism into a fight against the "emasculation of the West" and against the "great replacement." When it comes to women's rights, the far right has one constant: to fight us, despise us, and trample on us.
The equality between women and men advocated by Ms. Le Pen and her party is merely a facade that masks a desire to stigmatize and exclude foreign or immigrant women and to hinder women's freedom to choose their destiny, by sending them back home or relegating them primarily to maternal roles.
We feminists are the heirs of those who fought for the right to vote, and we are not afraid to exercise that right. Tomorrow, as yesterday, we will continue to fight for true equality. Today, we unreservedly call for a united front against Ms. Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election.
Signatories
Africa 93, Astrea, Au Tambour !, Alternatif world, L’Assemblée des Femmes, Association Française du Féminisme, Dans le Genre Égales, Des_Codeuses, Ciné-Woman, Collectif Féministe contre le viol (CFCV), Collectif Georgette Sand, Elected Officials Against Violence Against Women, Empow'Her, En Avant Toute(s), Together Against Sexism, Equipop, Let's Talk About Excision!, National Federation of Women's and Family Information Centers (FN-CIDFF), National Federation of Women's Solidarity (FNSF), Women Here and Elsewhere, Femmes solidaires, FIT- une femme un toit, Fondation des Femmes, Ikambere, L’Burn, Laboratoire de l’égalité, L’Égalité c’est pas sorcier, Luna Podcast, Maydee, #NousToutes, OFAD (Organisation des Femmes Africaines de la Diaspora), Osez le Féminisme !, Oxfam, Parents et Féministes, Le Planning Familial, Solidarité Femmes 13, Une Voix Pour Elles, Union Régionale Solidarité Femmes (URSF) Île de France
