Numerous demonstrations are being organized on Saturday, November 23, ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25. Two high-profile cases since the beginning of the school year reflect the extent of sexist and sexual violence in France: the revelation of accusations of sexual violence against Abbé Pierre and the trial of Dominique Pelicot, accused of having drugged his wife so that she being raped by more than fifty men, co-accused.
Whether it is assault, harassment, rape or domestic violence that can lead to femicide, violence against women is diverse and massive.
In 1993, the United Nations (UN) adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is defined as all “acts of violence directed against the female sex, which cause or may cause physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including the threat of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether in public life or in private life”.
In France, various figures, although they only partially reflect reality, allow us to evaluate the number of female victims.
Why is it difficult to measure sexual and gender violence?
The main data available on violence against women come from two types of annual reports prepared by the Ministerial Service of Statistics for Internal Security (SSMSI). The first is a statistical report called “Insecurity and crime”, based on complaints registered every year in France by the police and the national gendarmerie (which do not take into account other acts such as handrails).
However, this assessment is not exhaustive: victims do not systematically file complaints or sometimes do so much later. The number of reports of past acts of sexual violence has increased significantly in the wake of the #metoo revelations. In 2023, half of the victims filed the complaint more than six months after the events, and 17% more than five years late (compared to 9% in 2016).
To better understand reality, the State prepares a second report every year resulting from an investigation called “victimization.” Called “Experienced and felt in terms of security” (VRS), it consists of questioning a sample of people between 18 and 74 years old in France about the crimes and offenses of which they have been victims during their lives.
Sexual violence that continues to increase
According to the latest survey In the VRS published at the end of 2023, 270,000 women say they have been victims of physical sexual violence (rape, attempted rape, sexual assault) while 1.14 million women say they have suffered non-physical sexual violence (sexual harassment or sexual exposure ) in 2022.
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But only a small minority files a complaint with the police station or gendarmerie: 6% for physical sexual violence and 2% for non-physical sexual violence. Others believe that “it wouldn’t have been of any use” (23%), which “it wasn’t bad enough” (23%) or that their testimony would not have “not taken seriously” (15%).
The data collected by the police is, logically, less numerous than the results of these declarative surveys, but still shows an increase over time: in 2023, 114,100 complaints of sexual violence were registered, 85% presented by women, a proportion that calculates in . year after year.
In a context of freedom of expression promoted by the #metoo movement since 2017, the number of victims of sexual violence registered by the police and gendarmerie increased by 7% in 2023 compared to 2022. Which is also not related to the recording of an increasing proportion of ancient facts.
Minors are the main victims
Of the 114,100 victims of sexual violence registered by the police in 2023, 65,300 are minors, with a much higher proportion among women. However, many men are also victims of sexual violence between the ages of 9 and 19.
On the other hand, the aggressors are almost exclusively men: 76,621 people were accused by the police and the gendarmerie of clarified sexual violence in 2023: 96% are men and 27% are between 30 and 44 years old.
Furthermore, according to statements recorded in the VRS 2023 survey, 52% of victims of rape, attempted rape or assault say they know their attacker. In 13% of cases the perpetrator of violence is the partner, in 15% an ex-partner and in 11% a friend. The report points out that in general physical sexual violence, women are victims six times more than men.
Femicides at the center of domestic violence
On average, a woman is murdered every three days by her partner or ex-partner. In 2023, 93 women were victims of feminicide, 319 victims of attempted feminicide according to a report from the interministerial mission for the protection of women (Miprof). Underestimated figures according to some feminist associations: the NousToutes collective has counted no less than 135 femicides in 2023 and already announces 122 for the year 2024, as of November 20.
The Miprof report adds to this count the 773 victims of harassment by a spouse or ex-spouse resulting in suicide or attempted suicide.
Another survey by the Ministry of the Interior, called “Genese (gender and security)”, carried out in 2021, estimates that 3.6 million women aged 18 to 74, or 15.9% of them, have reported having suffered physical violence or sexual committed by a partner at least once since the age of 15. The number of domestic violence victims registered in 2022 increased by 15% compared to 2021.
Sexism: violence that leads to other violence
Although invisible at first glance, psychological violence should not be underestimated. The VRS survey reveals that the vast majority of women who have experienced domestic violence reported very significant (36%) or quite significant (42%) psychological harm. The 2018 law against sexual and gender violence created specific crimes of gender-based outrage in order to repress so-called “street” harassment. Since then, security services have recorded 2,600 crimes of this type in France.
Gender stereotypes and situations of “common sexism” also persist, as recalled in the “2023 Annual Report on the situation of sexism in France” of the High Council for Equality between Women and Men (HCE): “Public opinion recognizes and deplores the existence of sexism, but does not reject it in practice, a phenomenon that is particularly frequent among the men interviewed. This gap between perception, statements and practice has tangible consequences in terms of symbolic, physical, sexual and economic violence. From everyday sexism, the so-called “ordinary”, to its most violent manifestations, there is a continuum of violence. »
The “sexism barometer”, on which this report is based, shows that a majority of women experience it daily: 57% have already experienced sexist jokes or comments (and up to two out of three within higher socio-professional categories), 41% of inappropriate catcalls and gestures from a man, 29% of inappropriate comments made about her clothing or physique…
The 2024 edition of the HCE report reveals that this year also an immense majority of French men and women notice inequalities: 92% of the population considers that women and men are not treated in the same way in at least one sphere of society . Nine out of ten women say they have already given up actions or changed their behavior to avoid being victims of sexism.
