French support for the #Metoo movement 2022, by age and political proximity

Following the Weinstein scandal (former American film producer accused and then convicted of rape and sexual assault), in October 2017, actress Alyssa Milano relaunched the hashtag #MeToo, created ten years earlier by American feminist activist Tarana Burke. This hashtag then quickly became viral on social networks. Its French version - #balancetonporc - calls for breaking the omerta and generates testimonies ranging from daily sexism and street harassment to sexual assault and rape.

In 2022, the #Metoo movement was supported by a majority of French people (77 percent), especially among those under 35 (82 percent). However, this support varied according to the political proximity of the French. Indeed, among the general population, supporters of left-wing political parties were more likely to support the movement than those of right-wing parties, although the gap was relatively small. In contrast, only 46 percent of supporters of Eric Zemmour's party supported the movement, which is not very surprising given the sexism and accusations of sexual assault targeting the founder of the Reconquête party. His supporters under the age of 35, however, were nearly three-quarters in support of #Metoo.

Effects of #Metoo on public opinion

For the majority of the public opinion, the #Metoo movement has had positive consequences on French society. In 2019, about four out of five French people felt that this movement had had a positive impact on the liberation of female victims of sexual violence and their ability to file complaints, as well as on the number of complaints filed by these women. For the French, #Metoo had also had a positive influence on the support of the people around female victims of violence, as well as on the attitude and reactions of witnesses of this violence. However, the assessment was more mixed regarding the effect on men's respect towards women, and on women's ability to dress as they wish without being insulted, harassed or risking sexual assault.

Effects of #Metoo on the treatment of victims

While #Metoo has had some repercussions on the judicial system, the reception of victims' voices and the treatment of cases of gender-based and sexual violence by representatives of this system is still deficient. In 2020, nearly three-quarters of cases of sexual violence were closed without prosecution. Moreover in 2021, only one-third of women who filed a complaint for domestic and sexual violence reported a positive treatment from the authorities. Indeed, the victims are frequently confronted with a trivialization of the facts by the police officers in charge of the complaint, with guilt-inducing attitudes, with mockery, or even with an outright refusal to register the complaint. And yet, in France, the receipt of complaints is a legal obligation for police officers. In terms of proportions, the number of female victims who file a complaint thus remains low, although younger women are more likely to do so.