French women's support for women's rights measures 2022, by voting intention

In France, the efficiency of the criminal justice system in handling cases of sexual violence has been the subject of some criticism. Indeed, nearly three quarters of cases of sexual violence are dismissed by the public prosecutor's office, and only one third of female victims of domestic, sexual, or gender-based violence who have filed a complaint report satisfactory treatment. The other two thirds mention refusal to take the complaint, trivialization of the facts, mockery, and sometimes even solidarity from the police towards the offender.

A specialized justice system to fight against sexual violence

It is therefore hardly surprising that a large majority of French women defend the creation of a specialized justice system to fight against sexual violence. It is in fact a proposal made by candidate Valérie Pécresse (Les Républicains), in the context of the campaign for the presidential elections of 2022. She proposes, among other things, to enable protection orders to be issued in less than six days, to transform the police report into a complaint, to multiply prevention campaigns within the national education system, and to improve the training of police officers and gendarmes in the reception and follow-up of female victims of violence, through an increase of 50 percent of the courts' budget within five years.

The most supportive of this program proposal are potential voters for Jean-Luc Mélenchon (La France Insoumise), although women intending to vote for other candidates are generally in favor of the creation of this specialized justice: they were also 89 percent among potential voters for Eric Zemmour (Reconquête!).

Women's rights, a key issue in the 2022 presidential election

In 2019, there were nearly 213,000 female victims of physical and/or sexual violence by their partner or ex-partner, as well as nearly 150 women killed by their spouses.

While the defense of women's rights was "the great cause of the quinquennium", according to Emmanuel Macron, one cannot help but notice that, more than four years later, the means put in place by the government remain insufficient. Feminist associations denounce the lack of structural reforms, and tend to perceive the president's position as having produced few concrete results. When surveyed in October 2021, less than half of French women said they were satisfied with Emmanuel Macron's actions in terms of defending women's rights. And yet, for many French women, the defense of women's rights and the fight against sexism are determining issues when voting for the 2022 presidential elections, especially among the youngest and among non-heterosexual women.