The ordinance of 21 April 1944 established that women are voters and eligible under the same conditions as men. Yet, if women participate in political elections, they remain a minority among elected officials
Thanks in part to their involvement in the Resistance during the Occupation, the French women won the right to vote and stand for election on April 21, 1944. After the Liberation, women occupied their place in allied troops, had access to elective magistracies, and entered the political sphere. Four women jurors sit on the Court of Justice in Paris, women have become mayor, and the Union des femmes françaises, the result of the Women’s Committees of the Resistance, is holding its first major meeting. In Paris, images of a group of women soldiers, of the four women jurors of the Court of Justice. In a city hall, a woman mayor pronounces her first marriage. Images of the "first big meeting" of the Union des femmes françaises, extracts of the speeches of Claudine MICHAUT, "of the steering committee"; and of Marie BELL, of the French Comedy.
Pari won parity in the last municipal elections, following the example of the 4th arrondissement of Paris where Dominique BERTINOTTI was elected. Comments on factual images alternating with interviews with Anne-Claire JARRY, PS municipal councillor in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and Dominique BERTINOTTI, PS mayor of the 4th arrondissement of Paris.
Portrait of Brigitte GROS, senator mayor of Meulan for 12 years. Update on the representation of women in municipal councils. Interview of Brigitte GROS alternating with a comment on city council images, infographics and illustrations.
Several women’s associations expressed their anger in front of the Palais du Luxembourg at the Senate’s amendment of the text on equality between women and men, The right-wing Senate majority has refused to legislate equal access for women and men to elected office and office, leaving this responsibility to political parties. Comment on images of the women’s event and interview of Sylvie ULRICH, president of the Union féminine civique et sociale.
Interviews with Catherine GENISSON, President of the Parity Observatory, and Claude GOASGUEN, UMP, on the non-compliance of the law on parity by the major political parties and in particular the UMP.
Portrait of Nicole PERY, Socialist activist and municipal councillor in Ciboure. Explanation of the low representativeness of women in politics and assessment of the actions carried out by Nicole PERY. Interview of Nicole PERY, her husband and son, and the mayor of Ciboure, alternating with a comment on images of women working in a factory and Nicole PERY in her daily life (at the town hall, at the butcher’s).
The law of 6 June 2000 on parity, which imposes as many women as men on the electoral lists in municipalities with more than 3500 inhabitants, will apply to the next municipal elections of March 2001. Political parties must therefore find candidates and train them in electoral mandates. Report on a training course organised by the Radicaux de gauche in Cusset, Allier. Comment on factual images (internship and male and female trainees) alternating with interviews with Julie HOLARD, 24, radical left candidate in Lozère; Françoise MAILLER, trainer; Elisabeth BOYER, General Secretary of the Left Radicals.
Members of the House are considering the bill to promote equal access for women and men to electoral mandates and elected office. The text presented by the government plans to impose parity on all elections except municipal elections in municipalities with less than 3,500 inhabitants. Comment on plans made in the room of the Four Columns alternating with the interviews of Frédérique BREDIN, MP PS, Muguette JACQUAINT, MP PC, Jean-Louis DEBRE, president of the group RPR, and Christine BOUTIN, related UDF MP.
On the occasion of the debate at the National Assembly on the issue of parity between men and women in political life, meeting with Françoise CARTRON, Socialist mayor of Artigues in Gironde and one of the three women at the head of a city of more than 5000 inhabitants. Comment on images of Françoise CARTRON in the performance of her duties. Interview with Françoise CARTRON (in et off) on the difficulty for women to exist in politics. It believes that voluntary measures are necessary, such as quotas or the inclusion of parity in the Constitution.
The Senate today voted almost unanimously on the constitutional bill on equality between women and men, which provides that the law determines equal access to electoral mandates and elective functions, thus making parity in politics compulsory. The senators finally agreed to amend the famous section 3 of the Constitution. Twice adopted by the National Assembly, the government’s initial text was rejected a month ago by the right-wing Senate majority. But since then, the associations have mobilized and senators have retreated. Today’s report in front of the Palais du Luxembourg where 150 men and women, elected from the left or members of feminist associations, demonstrated demanding parity to put pressure on senators. Commentary on images of the event alternating with interviews with the philosopher Geneviève FRAISSE, Danièle POURTAUD, socialist senator of Paris, and Monique DENTAL, delegate of the "European Women’s Lobby".
MEPs unanimously passed the 82-vote constitutional bill on equality between women and men, which aims to provide equal access to electoral mandates and elected functions. Commentary on images of the very sparse Chamber of the Assembly, occupied mainly by women, during the examination of the bill; excerpt from the speech of Elisabeth GUIGOU, Guardian of the Seals, Minister of Justice, declaring the honor that she feels to be the first woman guard of the Seals (images signed Canal Assemblée nationale).
If women were elected in municipal elections through the parity act, they don’t get to be the president. An example is the department of Deux-Sèvres, where until then there were no women in the assembly. They now occupy half the seats. Commentary on images of Coralie DENOUES, Departmental Councillor (UMP) in her position, archives (collective aux barbes, 2011), and interviews of Coralie DENOUES, and Hervé of TALHOUET-ROY, Departmental Councillor (UDI) and Estelle GERBAUD, Departmental Councillor (Miscellaneous Centre).
The issue of gender parity in politics will be debated in the National Assembly on March 11. In order to improve the political representation of women, which is particularly low in France, the government is considering a law mandating women’s quotas in elections, an issue that is controversial. For the next parliamentary elections, the Socialist Party has set a quota of women candidates. Report in Paris at the Mouffetard market, where this morning the socialist candidate Lyne COHEN SOLAL was distributing roses, and at the colloquium "Tomorrow women in march", organised right in the framework of the International Women’s Day on the theme of political parity between men and women. The comment on images of Lyne COHEN SOLAL and the colloquium "Demain les femmes en marche" alternates with the interviews of Lyne COHEN SOLAL, Alain MORELL, PS, Anne-Marie IDRAC, Secretary of State for Transport, and François LEOTARD, President of the UDF, on the principle of quotas.
A "577 manifesto for a parity democracy", promoting gender parity in public and political life, has just been published by the newspaper "Le Monde" and signed by many personalities. Commentary on illustration images (the Chamber of the National Assembly populated by deputies) alternately with interviews with Pierre ARDITI, signatory of the manifesto, and Françoise GIROUD, on the misogyny of political circles and the desire of many women to take care of public affairs.
Report on gender parity on the electoral lists for the next parliamentary elections. If the right does not keep its promises with barely 20% of candidates, while on the left the single candidates discouraged them. The parties will be sanctioned financially. Example of the campaign of Françoise De PANAFIEU, candidate Various right in Paris. Comments on illustration images. Interviews by Françoise De PANAFIEU and Michèle SABBAN, PS National Secretary for Women.
The Council of Ministers adopted this morning a draft constitutional law on equality between women and men, aimed at promoting equal access for women and men to electoral mandates and elected functions. Report to the National Assembly including the testimony of a newly elected socialist, Laurence DUMONT, then at La Poste. Comment on factual images (Laurence DUMONT in the performance of her duties at the National Assembly, Mélina MULABEGOVIC in her office at La Poste) alternating with interviews with Laurence DUMONT, for whom the problem of parity in politics lies within the parties, and Mélina MULABEGOVIC, commercial framework, on the difficulty for women to make a career.
Following the results of the parliamentary elections, interview with Elisabeth GUIGOU, PS MP for Seine-Saint-Denis, on parity in the National Assembly. "We still have too few women in the National Assembly. The PS has made a big effort, but we will have 40% women elected. We must continue, that the UMP has not done any, so is far below the other European parliaments that I know well since I was a European parliamentarian. In any case, the question arises".
After municipal elections, the effects of the law on gender parity are not always felt in the composition of municipal councils. Commentary on archival images of Fabienne Keller elected mayor yesterday in Strasbourg and Anne Hidalgo elected yesterday First Deputy Mayor of Paris. Infographic images of the effects of the law on parity in French cities.
The law of 6 June 2000 to promote equal access for women and men to electoral mandates and elected office must be applied in the next parliamentary elections of 9 and 16 June. Reportage in Ile de France illustrating the obstacles to parity of applications, in particular the refusal of certain candidates to leave their place to a woman. In the Essonne, Véronique CARANTOIS, RPR candidate, embarks on her first election campaign with the feeling of a stricter and demanding look at women in politics. In the Hauts de Seine, the RPR wants to impose a candidate on Jean-Pierre FOUCHER, an outgoing UDF member. Commentary on factual images alternating with interviews with Véronique CARANTOIS, Roselyne BACHELOT, in charge of social issues at the RPR; Jean-Pierre FOUCHER and Michèle SABBAN, State Secretary for Women’s Rights, PS.