Sexual Violence: Associations demand political commitment for integral law

A coalition of feminist and child advocacy groups has vowed to continue protests until political leaders commit to enacting comprehensive legislation against sexual violence and allocate sufficient budgets for its implementation. The movement gained renewed momentum following the death of a student named Lyhanna in Gers.

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We will continue to demonstrate as long as we do not have a political commitment on the integral law against sexual violence and on a budget to apply it.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in numerous cities and outside the Ministry of Justice in Paris, holding the judicial system accountable for its handling of cases involving sexual violence. Activists argue that Lyhanna's death represents "the injustice too many," vowing to maintain weekly protests outside courthouses.

Anne-Cécile Mailfert, president of the Fondation des femmes, stated that the coalition, comprising around 150 associations and unions, demands the "immediate agenda of a comprehensive framework law against violence against women and children, equipped with substantial resources." She noted that 150 deputies have co-signed this legislative proposal, and an online petition has garnered nearly 300,000 signatures.

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We will continue the mobilization because Lyhanna is the injustice too many.

The groups are specifically calling on Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin to act, viewing the current situation as a "state failure." Mailfert emphasized the goal is to "fight impunity, prevent, and not seek revenge," responding to recent government measures like increased penalties for serial rapists of minors.

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Today, 150 deputies have co-signed this proposal for a law and the online petition demanding it has nearly 300,000 signatures.

Sophie Binet, general secretary of the CGT union, dismissed these measures as "gadget" solutions that fail to address the systemic failures activists have denounced for years. The coalition stresses the "indispensable" financial component of the proposed law, estimating its cost at 2.7 to 3 billion euros. "Women are not screaming, they are not hysterical, they want structural change," Binet asserted.

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Our objective is to demand accountability from Gérald Darmanin (Minister of Justice), because it is to political leaders that we are primarily addressing ourselves: for us, this situation stems from a failure of the state.