France - Fifth periodic reports of States parties [2002] UNCEDAWSPR 16; CEDAW/C/FRA/5 (26 September 2002)

	Home \| Databases \| WorldLII \| Search \| Feedback United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women - State Party Reports

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

For the initial report submitted by the Government of France, see CEDAW/C/5/Add.33, which was considered by the Committee at its sixth session. For the second periodic report submitted by the Government of France, see CEDAW/C/FRA/2 and CEDAW/C/FRA/2/Rev.1, which was considered by the Committee at its twelfth session. For the combined third and fourth periodic reports submitted by the Government of France, see CEDAW/C/FRA/3 and CEDAW/C/FRA/3-4/Corr.1.

			Page
Foreword			3
Part one: The national context			4
Introduction			5
Part two: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women			10
Reservations of France			10
Article 1: Adoption of instruments to combat discrimination			11
Articles 2 and 3: Promotion of women			14
Article 4: Temporary measures to accelerate equality between men and women			18
Article 5: Elimination of stereotypes			22
Article 6: Prostitution and traffic in women			24
Article 7: Political and public life			29
Article 8: International representation			35
Article 9: Nationality			36
Article 10: Education			36
Article 11: Employment			43
Article 12: Health			57
Article 13: Social and economic benefits			69
Article 14: Rural areas			71
Article 15: Equality before the law			72
Article 16: Matrimonial and family law			73
Annexes:
List of annexes Legislative, regulatory and other texts			76

This is the fifth periodic report of France to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. It brings up to date the information provided previously concerning the period 1993-1999.

It describes the policy employed by the Government of France to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as developments in French law regarding women’s rights, equality between men and women, and efforts to combat discrimination based on sex. In particular, the report addresses the Committee’s recommendations regarding special programmes for immigrant women. It also provides an update on France’s reservations concerning the recommendations contained in the 12 strategic objectives adopted at the fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September 1995, and describes the efforts being undertaken at the national level to implement those recommendations.

This document has been jointly prepared by all ministerial departments concerned with the issues addressed by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It was also submitted to the national advisory commission on human rights, as well as to France’s main French feminist and women’s groups, for their advice and opinions.

1. Recent legal developments: legislative texts adopted with a view to strengthening equality between men and women

Since the previous report was prepared, a number of legislative amendments have been introduced to promote equality between men and women and strengthen women’s basic rights:

– Act No. 99-574 of 9 July 1999, in the farming sector, creating the status of collaborating farmer’s spouse;

– Act No. 2000-493 of 6 June 2000 intended to facilitate equal access of men and women to electoral mandates and elective posts;

– Act No. 2000-627 of 6 July 2000 transposing Act No. 84-610 of 16 July 1984 on the organization and promotion of physical and sporting activities (art. 8 and art. 16 para. 3);

– Act No. 2001-1 of 3 January 2001 authorizing the Government to translate into national legislation, through ordinances, certain Community directives, including Directive No. 92/85 of 19 October 1992;

– Act No. 2001-397 of 9 May 2001 concerning professional equality between men and women;

– Act No. 2001-588 of 4 July 2001 on voluntary termination of pregnancy and contraception;

– Act No. 2001-1066 of 16 November 2001 concerning measures to combat discrimination;

– Act No. 2001-1135 of 3 December 2001 on the rights of the surviving spouse and children born of adultery and on modernizing certain provisions of inheritance law;

– Act No. 2001-1246 of 21 December 2001 on social security funding for 2002, establishing paid paternity leave (art. 55);

– Act No. 2002-93 of 4 March 2002 on access to origins of adopted persons and wards of State;

The institutional measures introduced under the previous report have not undergone significant changes, and continue to be employed for their intended purposes.

We should note, however, that the name of the Department of Women’s Rights in the Ministry of Employment has become the Department of Women’s Rights and Equality, under a decree of 21 July 2000. The number of officers working for the Department has been increased, and there is now a Department representative in each of the country’s administrative départements.

Since January 1993, when the previous report of France was submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, a number of major reforms have been introduced by the French State with a view to achieving full equality between men and women.

Legal equality between men and women is established in law and accepted as a principle of constitutional status. These principles have been supplemented by the new provisions on equality between men and women contained in the Treaty of Amsterdam, amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, ratified by France on 23 March 1999, and thus integrated into national legislation since the entry into force of the Treaty on 1 May 1999.

Equality between men and women is one of the general objectives of the Community under article 2 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, and must be taken into account in all Community policy (art. 3). A general clause relating to non-discrimination has been included in article 13, and the provisions on equal treatment of men and women in the labour market and at work have been strengthened (art. 137). In particular, article 141 now includes the concept of work of equal value, and allows for the possibility of adopting specific measures “designed to make it easier for members of the underrepresented sex to pursue a professional activity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in their professional careers”.

In 1999 the French Government decided to make equality between men and women one of the main elements of the renewal of French public life and French society. An active policy has been engaged to ensure that the equality established in law is fully reflected in reality.

In Spring 2000, a governmental platform for action drawn up by the Inter-ministerial Committee on Women’s Rights identified three priority action areas:

– professional equality and the harmonization of working life and family life;

All the measures implemented are part of an overall approach that continues to be regarded as high priority and is based on the idea that achieving equality between men and women requires interaction between the economic, political and social spheres. It is no longer enough to compensate for inequalities through specific measures on behalf of women. Instead, it is a question of integrating the gender perspective into public policy, so that no measure may be taken that produces inequalities.

The Government has sought to highlight women’s and men’s respective situations by gathering statistics and conducting surveys, as well as by raising the awareness of public policy makers. In an effort to make the public aware of women’s place in social, economic and political life, an initial statistical report, entitled “Perspectives on Parity”, was published in October 2001.

The Government has also been preparing a budget document on women’s rights and equality, which will be used as a tool for analysing the State’s budgetary activities with respect to achieving equality between men and women, within each ministry. This so-called yellow budget paper offers a mechanism for steering public actions, which can be defined or adjusted accordingly, with a view to ensuring that effective progress is made toward achieving equality between men and women.

Two reviews of these government actions, which involved the participation of a number of ministries, were conducted during the country’s Councils of Ministers of March 2001 and March 2002. Those reviews indicated that significant progress had been made in all three priority action areas.

The constitutional amendment adopted in June 1999 and the Act of 6 June 2000, which established the principle of equal access for men and women to electoral mandates and elective posts, represented major progress toward achieving the balanced participation of men and women in political life.

Two elections have been concerned by the Act of 6 June 2000 on “equal access of men and women to electoral mandates and elective posts”. Those elections showed that when the law is applied, it has positive effects on women’s place in public life. The Government has sought to produce a rapid increase in women’s participation in elected assemblies, whether local or national, and to bring major changes to political life. Wherever the formulation of laws and regulations is based on the experiences and skills of women, application of the law should also be a source of change in economic, social, and cultural life.

The Government’s desire to promote a policy of parity has also been reflected in community life. In July 2000, the State agreed a charter with community associations, under which signatories made a commitment to improving the balance between men and women in the exercise of community responsibilities. A committee of women’s rights groups now participates in the permanent conference of community associations.

The Ministry of Employment and Solidarity has also been working with community associations to study the contribution made by women’s and feminist groups to major social issues, as well as women’s participation in decision-making.

The Government has taken measures to promote the balanced representation of men and women in these various sectors.

The Act of 9 May 2001 concerning professional equality provides that, with effect from the 2002 elections for industrial relations boards, the proportion of men and women candidates put forward by labour organizations must have the effect of reducing the disparity between the number of women on electoral lists and the number of women holding elected positions. Furthermore, on 3 May 2002, a decree was adopted on the administration’s appointment of members of juries and selection committees, according to which each sex shall make up a minimum one third of the lists of members appointed by the State.

Long-term plans have been implemented for the promotion of women to positions of responsibility in the civil service.

2. Promoting professional equality and the harmonization of working life and family life

In order to achieve its objectives regarding the promotion of professional equality, the Government has focused on two types of action: the adoption of specific laws and the strengthening of partnerships.

The Act of 9 May 2001 seeks to encourage a dialogue within society concerning professional equality in the public sector and in private industry. The Act emphasizes the need to compare general employment and training conditions for men and women in the private sector, and makes professional equality a major issue in collective bargaining, both in the public sector and in private industry, where there is an established obligation to negotiate. Improving women’s place in private industry is part of a broad development strategy that is beneficial to the wage earners themselves (both men and women) and to production targets.

The Act of 6 November 2001 on combating discrimination provides for a change in the burden of proof by making the employer responsible for proving that the measure in question was taken for objective reasons. The Act also sets out principles of direct and indirect discrimination.

Moreover, the Act of 9 May 2001 concerning professional equality and the Act of 17 January 2002 concerning social modernization aim to broaden the field of sexual harassment, eliminating the concept of abuse of authority and addressing candidates for recruitment, training courses, or work placements. It also broadens the definition of acts of abuse committed against victims who have rejected, witnessed or reported an act of harassment. Under this Act it is unlawful, not only to punish or dismiss such persons, but also to take “any discriminatory measure”, whether direct or indirect, in the matter of pay, training, etc.

During the period covered by this report, many cooperation agreements were signed to combat continued labour-market inequalities between men and women, to promote women’s equal access to employment training, and to improve mechanisms for verifying achievements. Agreements on business creation were been signed.

These agreements were signed by the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity and institutional or private partners working in extremely varied fields of activity. By way of example, we may cite the National Agency for Improving Work Conditions (ANACT), the Inter-ministerial Commission on Cities, the National Association for Adult Vocational Training (AFPA), the Federation of Trade and Distribution Firms (FCD), and the Agency for Business Creation (APCE).

Agreements on increasing women’s participation in certain sectors facing labour market tensions have been signed in the construction and transportation sectors. In February 2001, an agreement was signed between the construction federation, the minister of transportation and equipment, the Deputy Minister for Vocational Training, and the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training.

This policy of strengthening partnerships has been accompanied by a major communications campaign aimed at encouraging women to enter professions traditionally dominated by men.

The harmonization of working life and family life was among the main themes of France’s 2002 Presidency of the European Union. It does seem that women are at an increasing disadvantage to men in this regard, and that this represents an obstacle to women’s professional careers. The question of the harmonization of working life and family life has long been considered central to the definition of family and social roles. Nowadays, due to changes in work relationships and family models, this question is increasingly being applied to broader issues.

Women’s work is extremely productive, and represents a major contribution to economic growth, as both a source of, and response to the creation of needs, economic activity, and jobs. Its influence is increasingly irreversible, because more and more women are functioning both as mothers and workers. This is the case in many European countries, to varying degrees, and the harmonization of working life and family life is now almost always the sole responsibility of the woman.

France submitted a report on this theme as part of its Presidency of the European Union, during the second half of 2002. The Council of the European Union subsequently adopted a resolution that included nine quantitative and qualitative evaluation criteria.

At the national level, day-to-day family life and working life was the subject of an initial government conference, held in September 2001. Various reports were produced, offering a number of practical proposals. Notable in this context was the creation of Offices for the harmonization of working life and family life in all towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants. These offices are responsible for ensuring that the working hours of public agencies and private companies are coordinated more effectively with people’s family and working lives.

Furthermore, one of the priority concerns identified by the Institute for Urban Policy, which was set up in January 2001, was to consider how the harmonization of people’s working and family lives might be incorporated into efforts to achieve equality between men and women.

On 11 October 2001 the Deputy Minister for the Family, Children and the Disabled held a workshop on how companies should address issues related to the harmonization of working life and family life. Participants discussed how working life might be adapted to the constraints involved in harmonizing family life and working life.

Lastly, the Act concerning social modernization of 17 January 2002 introduced paternity leave of 11 working days, in order to enable fathers to become more involved in parenting and thus improve the balance between working life and family life, both for themselves and for their spouses.

3. Increasing respect for women’s basic rights and intensifying efforts to combat violence

The significant progress achieved under the Act of 4 July 2001 on voluntary termination of pregnancy and contraception has mainly involved providing information and education about sex to elementary, middle and high schools, as well as prescribing, issuing, or administering the supply of contraceptives to minors, without the consent of those having parental authority. The Act also contains provisions concerning voluntary termination of pregnancy, including an increase from 10 to 12 weeks in the legal period for termination; the possibility for minors to keep the termination secret from their parents or guardians; and the broadening of the offence of preventing voluntary termination through moral or psychological pressure, through threats or acts of intimidation against persons working in abortion clinics, the women who use them, or their friends and families.

A new contraception information campaign was launched in January 2002, designed to spread awareness at the local level through brochures, posters and radio spots.

A national survey on violence against women was conducted among a representative sample of almost 7,000 women between the ages of 20 and 59. The survey produced some particularly significant data. Almost one in ten women had experienced some form of conjugal violence (whether physical, sexual, verbal or psychological) over the previous 12 months; almost one woman in ten had suffered some form of sexual aggression during her lifetime; and nearly two out of ten women said they had been subjected to psychological pressure in the workplace.

In response to this data, the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training held a national conference on violence against women, in January 2001. The Secretary used this occasion to launch an inter-ministerial plan of action, with four main focuses: strengthening networks; launching a communications campaign; developing ways to provide prevention and support; and building partnerships at the local level with local authorities. This plan involves the Ministries of Employment and Solidarity, Justice, Defence, Education, the Interior, and Housing. Under the plan, an information campaign was developed during 2001, under the slogan “Let’s break the silence about violence”.

At the same time, an initiative was launched in an effort to find ways to improve the quality of facilities offering assistance and shelter to women victims of violence. This initiative was designed to identify criteria for defining the quality of services offered by such facilities with a view to improving their practices, as well as to identify standard criteria for contractual relations with the State.

Violence in the schools was the subject of an agreement signed in February 2000 between the Ministries of Education, Labour and Agriculture, which included 30 proposals for combating sexual violence in schools. The objective of the agreement was to work at the local level in order to improve our understanding of the problems of young people in the schools and improve the services provided to them.

Trafficking of human beings is also a subject of considerable concern for the Government of France. A draft law has been submitted to parliament (which had not had time to consider it before going into recess) providing for the creation of a sanctions regime for the crime of trafficking in human beings as well as the issuing of a temporary resident’s permit for victims of trafficking who are prepared to file suit or testify against any persons who have harmed them while infringing anti-trafficking laws.

The prostitution of minors has been addressed through a set of new provisions, which were added to the Penal Code in order to fill the legal void regarding the situation of minor prostitutes aged between 15 and 18. A specific offence has been introduced for individuals having recourse to the prostitution of minors. This marks the first time that French law has penalized the “client” as well as the procurer, and represents a significant development.

The image of women in the media and any connection it may have to the violation of women’s basic rights were studied by a group of experts appointed by the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training. This group produced a set of proposals grouped under four headings: increasing professionals’ responsibility for their work through voluntary acceptance of a new self-disciplinary code; updating the Press Act of 1881, so that offences against the image of women may be punished as discrimination; strengthening of society’s capacity to speak and act, especially through associations that fight against violence against women and discrimination; and implementation of measures encouraging public debate on this question.

France continues to hold reservations regarding certain paragraphs of four of the Convention’s articles. However, as a result of several laws recently adopted by the French Parliament, French law has developed in a number of the areas concerned.

Act No. 2002-305 of 4 March 2002 concerning parental authority makes parents equally responsible for their children and broadens the joint exercise of parental authority, irrespective of parents’ marital status, since the child’s filiation is established within the first year of life. The Act also provides that, in the event that parents should separate, the child may reside with each parent in turn, if it is in the child’s interest.

Under Act No. 2002-304 of 4 March 2002 concerning family names, parents may choose the name of their child by submitting a joint written declaration to the registrar. The chosen name may be either that of the father or the mother, or a combination of both names, in the order that parents shall freely determine, to a maximum of one name each. The name given to the first born shall be valid for all subsequent joint children. However, in the event that the parents shall not decide, or cannot agree, the child shall automatically bear its father’s name.

France participates actively in European initiatives to combat discrimination, as well as conducting its own domestic policies in this area.

Within the European Union context, two directives^[1] and a programme of action have been adopted, based on article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam on the European Union. The first directive introduces the principle of equal treatment between persons, irrespective of racial or ethnic origin. The second establishes a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation. Although these directives do not directly target discrimination based specifically on sex, equality between men and women is included among their objectives, on a cross-cutting basis. In the same way, the Community action program to combat discrimination refers to the need to combat discrimination “including multiple discrimination”.

Discrimination based on sex was specifically addressed in a directive that was groundbreaking in its definition of indirect discrimination and its redefinition of the burden of proof: Council Directive 97/80 of 15 December 1997 on the burden of proof in cases of discrimination based on sex. Moreover, efforts are presently being made to revise Directive 76/207 on the equal treatment of men and women regarding access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions.

The revision notably introduces the definitions of direct and indirect discrimination, and of sexist and sexual harassment.

At the national level, and more recently, Act No. 2001-1066 of 16 November 2001 concerning measures to combat discrimination, provides, in transposing Directive 97/80, for a redefinition of the burden of proof in all cases of direct and indirect discrimination based on sex, but also regarding grounds for discrimination in employment. The Act forbids discrimination regarding access to employment or training courses. Furthermore, to those grounds for discrimination that are already included in the Labour Code (origin; sex; customs; family situation; ethnic, national or racial affiliation; political opinions; union activities or social activism; religious beliefs; state of health; or disability), it adds those of sexual orientation, age, physical appearance and family name.

French positive law defines discrimination as any kind of distinction made, between legal entities or between natural persons, on a number of grounds, which are set out in article 225-1^[2] of the Penal Code and which apply, on a restrictive basis, to certain areas that are set out in article 225 of the Penal Code and include hiring, dismissal, delivery of goods and services, and economic activity. According to this definition, discrimination constitutes a voluntary act, in which the element of intention is central. The Labour Code includes several articles that forbid discrimination. Although no specific definition is provided, they are broader in scope than those of the Penal Code. For example, they refer to discrimination regarding employees’ career development.

This legal provision for combating discrimination has not thus far found a real application, either in criminal or civil law, due to inadequate use of the rule of law, as well as difficulties linked to the burden of proof.

Equality that presupposes the absence of all discrimination, on whatever grounds, is thus formally established in national legislation. However, this formal, abstract concept of the principle of equality is strongly affected whenever specific inequalities and discriminations emerge that do not necessarily result from an intention to exclude, but rather from economic and social processes that are not always easily discerned.

Thus, if the principle of equality between men and women, which forms the basis of the social contract, is to be implemented effectively, its terms must be tested in the light of facts and social realities, in order to bring concrete confirmation that discrimination is absent from every area of public life. This requires, in particular, the adoption of positive measures, whether or not of a normative nature, aimed at redressing de facto inequalities.

2. Discrimination: gradual definition through different, but convergent approaches

Direct discrimination was precisely defined for the first time under the Directive of 9 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons, irrespective of racial or ethnic origin. This directive states: “direct discrimination occurs wherever, for reasons of race or ethnic origin, a person is treated less favourably than another person is being treated, has been treated, or would be treated in a comparable situation”. This definition of direct discrimination appears in a passage related to discrimination based on race or ethnic origin, and is provided for in the Directive of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation. This directive notably addresses discrimination based on sexual orientation, age or disability.

This definition, which is based on the notion of differential treatment, to the detriment of an individual or a group, is innovative in taking into account present, past, or potential future situations, through the different tenses employed.

French law has gradually developed an approach to discrimination that addresses the effects of distinctions applied to the situation of individuals or groups. The advantage of this approach is that it embraces all situations, whether individual or group, that are likely to lead to practices or processes of distinction or selection that are often implicit and are obscured by the lack of intention to discriminate. By way of example, one might mention the persistent wage discrepancies between men and women (around 25 per cent overall). Those discrepancies are partly explained by the structure of employment (concentration of women in certain sectors heavily dominated by women and among employees), but also by the effect of part-time work (performed mostly by women) which leads to a high concentration of women in lower income sectors.

According to constant jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, first introduced in the Directive of 15 December 1997 on the burden of proof in cases of discrimination based on sex, indirect discrimination “exists whenever an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice in fact affects a higher proportion of people of one sex, unless said provision, criterion or practice is appropriate and necessary and may be justified by objective factors, independent of the sex of the parties involved”.

This definition offers the judge significant powers to uncover discrimination that clearly exists, but is not openly apparent. It allows the judge to look beyond the apparent equality of treatment offered by a certain measure, to determine its real impact on a group of people. This approach involves a process that is both comparative and, specifically in cases of discrimination based on sex, quantitative. More particularly, it involves verifying the proportion of women unfavourably affected by the measure in question, with respect to a group of men placed in a similar situation.

This approach to indirect discrimination has been followed by French judges, as in the decision of the Court of Cassation of 12 February 1997, Usai Mushrooms vs. Mme Douarre and Mme Daudel, in which two women objected to the disparity between their hourly wage and that of a male warehouse worker. The Court of Cassation’s industrial tribunal did not take the traditional approach of arguing its case within the framework of a comparison between male and female workers as individuals. Instead, it compared the wages of two distinct groups: on the one hand, the group of warehouse workers (mostly women) responsible for sorting the mushrooms and, on the other hand, the group of (male) warehouse workers responsible for loading and unloading the crates. Through statistical analysis, the Court was able to determine that the lower appeals court had been right to rule that “men occupying the same warehouse worker position as women were systematically paid more”.

The revised Directive 76/207 favoured a qualitative approach, since its definition of indirect discrimination followed the example of the two directives of 2000. The Act of 17 November 2001 on efforts to combat discrimination did not include a definition of indirect discrimination. Consequently, it seems that the quantitative and qualitative approaches are both possible, as demonstrated by developments in the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

I. A voluntarist policy aimed at promoting women’s rights and equality between men and women

The Government’s voluntarist policy to promote women’s rights and equality between men and women in the country’s social, economic and political life is being conducted according to the priority action areas adopted on 8 March 2000 by the Inter-ministerial Committee on Women’s Rights. The method chosen to implement this policy of equality is based on a dual approach: partly global and partly specific. The global approach, which is based on inter-ministerial partnership, requires that men and women’s needs be taken into account in public policy as early as the formulation stage. Its complement is a specific approach that involves the conception and application of positive measures in favour of women with a view to establishing de facto equality between men and women.

The Government therefore selected three action areas, based mainly on the recommendations adopted by member States at the fourth World Conference on Women. These three action areas are designed to promote and strengthen de jure and de facto equality between men and women at the national level.

Government policy has focused on the promotion of women’s rights and equality between men and women. It has also focused on two factors that are essential to the implementation of a public policy on equality: the resources available to the State and the effective adoption by individuals of the tools needed to combat discrimination.

In view of the twofold discrimination suffered by women of foreign origin, specific policies on immigrant women or women born of immigration will also be addressed.

II. An increase in State resources devoted to achieving equality between men and women

In a Circular issued on 8 March 2000, the Prime Minister asked all Government departments to change the way they gathered statistics, in order to improve the understanding of the respective situations of men and women. The Prime Minister appointed the National Institute of Economic and Statistical Information (INSEE) to coordinate their efforts. INSEE was instructed to provide statistics on all matters related to equality between men and women. Furthermore, the Department of Women’s Rights and Equality was charged with producing an annual report on the basis of INSEE’s statistics. A first brochure, entitled “Key Figures on Equality between Men and Women”, was published in October 2001. An updated version is currently in production.

INSEE’s first report, entitled “Perspectives on Parity”, was published in July 2001. The report offers an insight into the respective situations of men and women, under a number of headings. The first annual report of the Department of Women’s Rights and Equality is currently being prepared, and should be published in autumn 2001.

2. A budgetary tool that reflects the State’s financial commitment to women’s rights and equality: the yellow budget paper

During its discussion of the country’s 2000 Finance Act, parliament decided that the Government’s annual budget presentation should include a separate account of its spending on behalf of women’s rights and the promotion of equality between men and women.

The annual State budget now includes a new annex, known as the yellow budget paper on women’s rights and equality. The purpose of such annexes is to provide a summary of the State’s spending in certain areas that affect all or several ministerial departments. Each summary is accompanied by a more or less detailed analysis.

Yellow budget papers essentially concern crosscutting interventions and actions. Equality between men and women is ideally suited to the yellow budget paper, in view of the Government’s determination to take a global approach to this issue. Note also that, since preparation of the yellow budget paper is a legal requirement, it should prove to be a lasting instrument.

Lawmakers’ concern to create a mechanism for evaluating and monitoring Government spending on women’s rights and equality between men and women, during their annual budgetary debate, matches the Government’s stated desire to implement strong and energetic policy in this area. The yellow budget paper meets several objectives, since it functions as both an information tool and a monitoring tool, which is set out in budgetary terms, reflecting the results of a voluntarist policy and enabling lawmakers to measure its progress or detect any problems.

As both a “mainstreaming” tool and a tool for measuring the impact of public policy on men and women, the yellow budget paper on equality is an essential steering mechanism, through which public actions can be directed and adjusted to ensure that equality between men and women can progress and take genuine effect.

Thanks to the creation of seventeen positions in the 2001 Finance Act, the vacant posts of département representative have now been filled. Every region and département now has a representative responsible for implementing the Government’s programme to promote equality between men and women.

On 2 February 2001, a Circular on the duties of the decentralized network for women’s rights and equality was issued jointly by the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Employment and Solidarity, and the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training. The Circular set out the responsibilities of regional delegates and département representatives for women’s rights and equality, and describes how policies on equality are to be implemented at the local level.

III. Specific actions regarding immigrant women^[3] and women born of immigration

Discrimination against women is often more widespread among women of foreign origin. The Government has taken a number of specific measures to meet the needs of immigrant women, addressing access to information and awareness of rights, integration into the labour market, and information about traditional practices.

Specialized social services agencies (the Social Services Agency for Assistance to Emigrants and the Immigrant Social Services Agency, ASSFAM) provide community-based information and social-integration services, especially to newly arrived women. The purposes of these actions are the following:

– to help the immigrant population gain access to their rights and teach them about the French way of life and their new social environment, using a language-based model;

– to make it easier for the immigrant population to access common-law institutions;

The Government has been striving to recognize and promote the role of the femmes-relais, or “women intermediaries”, who act as sociocultural mediators and perform a vital role by helping immigrants to become integrated into French society, by combating discrimination, especially among women, and by helping the immigrant population access public services (mother-child protection, family allowances, schools, town hall, etc.).

Having started out essentially as interpreters, the femmes-relais (there are now around 1,000, working with some 300 agencies) now perform a wide variety of functions, including welcoming new immigrants and providing them with information and orientation services; helping resolve conflicts with authorities, neighbours, and schools; and organizing community events (support groups, neighbourhood parties, etc.).

Over the years, the profession of femme-relais has become increasingly organized. The Profession Banlieue community resource centre has set up a professional referral system, and a guide and charter on social and cultural mediation have been produced by a community organization deriving from the agency Femmes Interassociations — Interservices Migrants (FIA-ISM). The FIA-ISM has for around two years been organizing cooperative groups at the département level to facilitate the exchange of information and experiences, as well as monitoring mechanisms, between various local organizations. Training course have also been set up by various agencies.

Government promotion activities in this area have focused on encouraging participation in surveys, with a view to gaining increased understanding of femmes-relais and their activities; providing support to local organizations; and working to achieve the “official inclusion” of the position of femme-relais in its programme to create, over a three-year period (2000-2003), 10,000 adulte-relais, or “adult intermediary” positions, subsidized in part by the State.

During the period 2000/2001, the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity decided to set up a systematic mechanism for the exchange of information, with a view to defining parameters for services to immigrant women in the year 2002. Priority was given to the employment sector because the situation of immigrant women in the labour market was particularly disturbing, and because they often faced extremely difficult living conditions, in addition to discrimination. Furthermore, there was a risk that the working conditions of immigrant women might deteriorate further, thereby accentuating the phenomena of segregation, exclusion, and ethnic separation already observed.

It was therefore decided to fund several studies or projects with the aim of building a knowledge base on which future research might be focused. The Institute of Human Sciences has published a bibliographic survey entitled “Immigrant women and girls of foreign origin: fragmented integration and discrimination in access to employment”. Another study is currently under way to identify the processes underlying the phenomenon of double discrimination (which is also a major focus of the EQUAL Community initiative programme).

In parallel with these efforts, a working group has been set up with the primary objective of making concerted use of European Axis 5 funds (Objective 3 of the European Social Fund), which are intended for “specific measures to improve women’s access to, and participation in the labour market”. As a result of the group’s endeavours, it has been possible to draw up an inventory of all community initiatives undertaken between 1994 and 1999 and to identify certain experiences upon which to build for the future.

A considerable amount of work has been done in the area of language, based on the theory that, in many respects, poor command of the French language represents the first discrimination. A major new area of research has been opened up in an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of linguistic training and explore the idea that immigrants should eventually be given the legal right to learn the language of their host country. Within this context, particular attention will be given to immigrant women, because of the obstacles they encounter when trying to join the workforce and gaining access to linguistic training, often because of their family situation or the pressure of community traditions.

A study group, comprising a coordinator and an expert panel, will begin work in 2002. It will be chosen on the basis of a competitive bid. The group will analyse the particular situation of immigrant women regarding access to employment and training, working conditions, and career development, and will act to promote concerted action on behalf of women.

Lastly, a sponsorship system, which provides personal support for young people during their job search and during their first weeks of work, will be extended in 2002 to include those over 26 years of age. This measure will undoubtedly be beneficial to women, who now account for more than 60 percent of those sponsored.

4. Providing independent accommodation for women in polygamous relationships: distribution of an information pamphlet

The Circular issued on 25 April 2000 by the Ministry of the Interior on the renewal of residence permits of polygamous foreign nationals notably addresses the question of providing independent accommodation for women in polygamous relationships. This is a complex legal issue, which is highly symbolic in terms of policy on integration and the status of women, and a highly sensitive issue for a number of the groups concerned.

It thus seemed essential to issue an information pamphlet on the subject, primarily to give social workers the information they needed to help the women concerned to leave their polygamous relationships. The goal was to produce a highly practical tool, which was as clear and concise and possible.

A working group composed of representatives of the ministerial departments involved therefore began work on 19 June 2001. After a great deal of discussion, a document entitled “Leaving polygamy behind” was produced, with the agreement of all participants. The document will be distributed very widely (10,000 copies) among immigrants practising polygamy.

I. Parity: a specific measure to encourage women’s participation in decision-making

Act No. 2000-493 of 6 June 2000 seeking to establish equal access of men and women to electoral mandates and elective posts was the final element in the constitutional revision of 1999.

The Government chose parity (50 percent of candidates of each sex). The Act accordingly includes the following provisions:

– In the case of ballots using the two-round list system (municipal elections in towns with more than 3,500 inhabitants and regional elections), the difference between the number of candidates of each sex may not exceed one. Lists for each complete group of six candidates must include an equal number of candidates of each sex.

– In the case of ballots using the single-round system (European elections and part of senatorial elections), the difference between the number of candidates of each sex may not exceed one for each list. Each list shall show one candidate of each sex, in alternating order.

Furthermore, with regard to legislative elections, and in an effort to ensure that political parties and governments play a central role in the renewal of French political life, the Act provides financial sanctions for those who fail to respect the principle of parity of political candidacy, by failing to present 50 per cent of candidates of each sex (within a 2 per cent margin).

The Act provides mechanisms that are simple and focused on achieving a balance between mandatory measures and financial sanctions, while not undermining the existing electoral system.

These new provisions were applied for the first time during the municipal elections of March 2001. The proportion of woman town councillors almost doubled. Women now make up 47.5 per cent of councillors in towns with more than 3,500 inhabitants, compared with 25 per cent previously.

However, the number of women elected as mayors of these towns remains very low. There are 171 women mayors, representing 6.6 per cent of all mayors of towns with more than 3,500 inhabitants, against 4.95 per cent in 1995 (an increase of 1.65 percentage points). Note that, in contrast to the results of the previous elections, the larger the town, the higher the proportion of women mayors elected.

A survey conducted among company directors highlighted the difficulties encountered by women in gaining access to positions of responsibility. The problems identified included segregation of professions, wage discrimination, harmonization of working life and family life.

The resulting report recommended the adoption of specific measures to bring women’s wages more into line with those paid to men. It argued for a family policy that would strengthen services for the care of young children, and called for a fairer distribution of family responsibilities between men and women. An opinion to that effect was adopted by France’s Economic and Social Council on 20 December 2000.

Considerable research was done into women’s access to positions as elected staff representatives, senior union officials, industrial relations board officers, and senior officials of joint social welfare agencies.

On 20 December 2000 an opinion was issued on this subject. Some of the CSEP’s recommendations were reflected in the provisions of the Act of 9 May 2001 concerning professional equality between men and women. The Act also stipulates that during re-elections for industrial relations boards, union organizations must put forward their lists of candidates in a manner that helps increase the percentage of women elected.

The Act further states that, for professional elections, union organizations must, when drawing up their pre-election cooperation agreement, consider how they can achieve a balanced representation of men and women on the list of candidates. Lastly, the Act provides that, within all companies employing at least 200 workers, the workers’ council must set up a committee concerning professional equality.

Some of the suggestions made in the report entitled “Senior administration in the civil service: toward equality between men and women” which was submitted to the Minister for the Civil Service and State Reform on 16 February 1999, were implemented during 2000-2001.

The Act of 9 May 2001 concerning professional equality between men and women thus provides for balanced representation of men and women in the civil service, on entrance and examination boards, and administration representatives on advisory agencies such as joint administrative committees, joint technical committees, and health and safety committees.

Moreover, in response to the Prime Minister’s Circular of 6 March 2000, most ministries have formulated, and submitted to their joint technical committees, long-term plans for improving women’s access to jobs and positions within senior administration.

In responding to the Circular of the Minister for the Civil Service and State Reform of 5 December 2000, each ministerial department appointed a coordinator responsible for all matters concerned with women’s position.

Lastly, on 10 November 2000, a steering committee was set up on the equal access of men and women to senior civil service positions.

The steering committee was charged with gathering data about training, recruitment and advancement with respect to women’s access to the civil service or their career development. The committee is also responsible for identifying discrimination against women regarding access to senior positions, making recommendations for remedying the inequalities identified, evaluating the effects of measures taken, and monitoring implementation of its recommendations and research in this area, as well as disseminating the results. The committee is composed of nine members, appointed for a period of five years by the Minister for the Civil Service and State Reform.

In its report, submitted on 29 June 2001, the committee recommended that a series of studies be conducted (many of which are already under way) on competitive examinations for entrance to France’s so-called grandes écoles (prestigious higher education institutes, such as the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, the Ecole nationale d’administration, and the Ecole polytechnique) as well as on career development (e.g. hospital directors). The Committee recommended that the Government’s programme on the Reform and Reduction of Working Hours (ARTT) should be an opportunity to consider and improve the harmonization of people’s working and family lives and thereby help achieve the professional equality of men and women.

According to a study on the community life of the French people, conducted in December 1998 by the Living Conditions Research and Monitoring Centre (CREDOC), whereas 46 per cent of men belonged to at least one community association, only 34 per cent of women did so. It was noted, however, that the number of women had been rising for decades. It was also noted that, within the organizations themselves, women held fewer positions of responsibility than men did.

This workshop, which was held on 26 April 2001, addressed the contribution made by women’s and feminist organizations to major social issues, as well as women’s participation in community decision-making.

This examination of women’s role in community life will be continued in the form of seminars, as well as a survey intended to evaluate the responsibilities of women in community life.

The objective of Act No. 2001-1 of 3 January 2001, authorizing the Government to translate into national legislation, through ordinances, certain Community Directives, including Directive 92/85 of 19 October 1992, is to bring French law into line with the said directive. On 6 August 1999, the European Commission had issued a reasoned opinion regarding France’s failure to translate into national legislation art. 5 para. 3 of Directive 92/85.

This article states that, after evaluating the risks incurred by a pregnant, newly delivered or breastfeeding salaried employee exposed to physical, chemical or biological agents, an employer must take the necessary steps to prevent the employee’s continued exposure to such risks.

The employer must adjust the said employee’s terms and/or hours of employment accordingly. If this is not possible, the employer must take the necessary steps to find the employee a new position. If neither option is possible, the employee shall be exempted from continuing in her job.

If a pregnant employee, or an employee who has returned to work following her maternity leave, or an employee who is breastfeeding is exposed to certain risks that are incompatible with her health and safety, the employer shall, based on the opinion of the company doctor, either offer to change the terms of her position, or transfer her to a new position. Such transfer shall not bring in any reduction in pay.

In the event that the employer is unable to offer her a new position, the employer must state the reasons why it is not possible to reassign her.

The employee’s labour contract shall be suspended, and she will accordingly be given a guarantee of remuneration, provided for under the Agreement on Monthly Wages of 10 December 1997, attached as annex to the Act of 19 January 1978, which provides for compensation comprising daily allowances, paid as sickness benefit by social security, plus 90 per cent of the employee’s salary, payable by the employer (the condition of three-years’ service stipulated in the Agreement on Monthly Wages does not apply in this case).

Needless to say, the provisions on maternity leave and the ban on employing women during the two weeks before and the six weeks after delivery continue to apply.

For many years, and increasingly since 2001, the advertising industry has presented images of women that are regarded by many people as humiliating and degrading and that run the risk of offending against human dignity, through images that encourage violence against women or discrimination based on sex. It was thus felt that the best approach to this question was clearly to begin by analysing, as a matter of priority, the image of women in advertising.

A working group was therefore set up in March 2001, under the aegis of the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training, charged with submitting a report to the Minister of State by July 2001. The report was to provide a summary of the information gathered regarding advertisements that offended against the image of women, and was also to include recommendations that were to be aimed primarily at changing practices, but could also lead to changes in the existing legal and contractual framework.

The working group comprised representatives of the ministries and institutions concerned, as well as representatives of civil society: the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity (Department of Women’s Rights and Equality), several ministerial departments involved in the subject (Media Affairs Department, Prime Minister’s Department acting for the Ministry for Culture and Communication, advisory committee of the Ministry of Justice), the parliamentary Delegation on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities for Men and Women of the National Assembly, the Monitoring Commission on Gender Parity, the Advertising Standards Office (BVP), the Association of Women Journalists, and a representative of the research sector.

The authorities responsible for conducting a policy for the prevention and treatment of violence against women, in close collaboration with the associations, felt it necessary to instigate a rapid investigation into the issue of advertising, focusing on the exclusion and domination of women.

The working group looked at how social mores had changed and considered what needed to be done in terms of ensuring respect for the human being. Members considered that the study of advertising needed to be conducted in light of the social imperative to prevent violence and combat discrimination against women.

The working group proceeded to interview members of all the professions involved (advertising executives, billboard companies, television advertisers), associations for the defence of women’s rights, consumers’ associations, and other experts. The group submitted its report to the Secretary on 11 July 2001.

– a summary of the information gleaned about advertisements that are harmful to women, either because they encourage violence or because they discriminate based on sex;

The group’s recommendations may be grouped under four major headings: increasing responsibility for professionals (creative staff, television advertisers, broadcasters), through voluntary adherence to appropriate self-regulatory mechanisms; updating of current legislation, with a view to providing sanctions for offences against the image of women that encourage discrimination; strengthening of society’s capacity to speak and to act, especially through associations involved in combating violence against women and discrimination; implementation of measures encouraging public debate about the issue of the image of women in advertising.

France’s national advertising monitoring agency, the Advertising Standards Office, took the working group’s recommendations into account when preparing its own report, entitled “The image of the human being”. This report, which was published on 16 October 2001, provides the foundation for the advisory opinions issued by the BVP. It replaces the former recommendation on the “image of women”, which dated back to 1975, and which had failed to keep pace with the changes that had occurred in French society over the previous two decades. The BVP’s new report notably includes innovative provisions concerning the principles of direct and indirect violence; subjection and dependency; and sexual, social and racial stereotypes.

II. Family responsibilities: reform of parental authority, establishing the principle of

Act No. 2002-305 concerning parental authority was adopted on 4 March 2002. By adopting this legislative amendment, France brought itself into conformity with article 5.b. The aim of the Act is to facilitate application of the principle of co-parenthood, which is founded on three basic premises: equality among parents, equality among children, and the child’s right to two parents. The Act further states that parents’ marital situation must not affect the manner in which they exercise parental authority.

Certain provisions of the Act are designed to enhance the security of, and to stabilize the relationship between parent and child, according to an ethical approach that emphasizes commitment and responsibility, and that is reflected notably in the encouragement and formal recognition of family allegiances; the standardization of actions intended to establish paternity and maternity; and the limitation of the grounds and the time periods for contesting filial relationships. The Act also affirms the principle of enhancing parental accords on the organization of children’s lives, notably within the context of the separation of the parental couple. The role of family mediation is also established, in this regard.

Lastly, this legislative amendment signals France’s full application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by France in 1990.

The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and its two protocols, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants, by Land, Sea and Air, were signed by France on the first day of the signing conference, held in Palermo on 12 December 2000.

The Convention is presently being considered for ratification by the French Parliament, for its inclusion in French positive law. For the Convention to enter into force, the threshold of 40 ratifications needs to be reached.

The question of prostitution and its relationship to the problems of trafficking in persons and forms of modern slavery has been examined by two parliamentary taskforces. A working group on victims has also been set up.

The Act of 15 May 2001 concerning new economic regulations broadened the definition of the organized criminal group to include those acting in concert to commit any crime punishable by five years in prison (art. 450-1 of the Penal Code). Under the present sanctions regime, an offence of this nature involving procuring can be included under this definition.

The Act also created a new offence, defined as having habitual relations with an organized criminal group, without being able to justify ones lifestyle (art. 450-2 of the Penal Code).

These tough new legal tools will enable France to combat procuring networks more effectively.

On 18 December 2001 the Ministry of Justice issued a Circular on procuring to all public prosecutor’s offices. The effect of the circular was to improve the coordination of all criminal investigations departments, with a view to taking a financial and assets-based approach in the fight against criminal groups involved in the organization of prostitution, improving the care of prostitutes as victims, and appointing certain public prosecutors as key focal points for efforts to combat procuring.

In 1999 the Senate Delegation on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities for Men and Women submitted its initial report on the question of prostitution. Following the report, the President of the Delegation was appointed to lead a parliamentary taskforce on prostitution, under a Decree of 16 February 2001.

The resulting report, published on 8 February 2001, highlighted the need to create institutions that could improve the coherence of policies for combating prostitution, and made recommendations to that effect, as described below.

The Delegation recommended the creation of a monitoring commission, committee or High Council, which would offer a genuine statistical tool, expert knowledge of the needs involved, and an instrument for monitoring and disseminating the measures taken.

The Delegation also believed that it was essential to make the fight against procuring a police priority and to strengthen policies of cooperation between various countries. It recommended that a national rapporteur be appointed for each country, in line with the recommendations of the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on follow-up to the fourth World Conference on Women (“Beijing+5”), held in June 2000.

With regard to the prevention of prostitution and to the reintegration of prostitutes into society, the Delegation recommended that emphasis be placed on the following:

– regular national information campaigns to make young people and educators more aware of the issue;

– training of social workers and staff of public agencies responsible for implementing policy in this area;

– increasing support for organizations working in this area, creation of relevant commissions in all départements, and implementation of any measures that might facilitate prostitutes’ reintegration into society.

In its report, the parliamentary taskforce carefully described the situation regarding slavery in France, before going on to place the French situation in the international context and, finally, to make recommendations regarding policies and laws intended to help combat a problem that is of a considerable magnitude, and characterized by a considerable level of violence. The taskforce identified four main areas for reform: the victims, the traffickers, the institutional context, and public awareness.

The recommendations of the taskforce regarding the fight against sexual exploitation are described below.

It should be noted that as a follow-up to the recommendations of the parliamentary taskforce, a Draft Law to strengthen the fight against various forms of slavery was adopted by the National Assembly on 24 January 2002 and submitted to the Senate. The draft law notably provides for the creation of an offence of trafficking in human beings and the issuing of a temporary resident’s permit, accompanied by the right to exercise a professional activity, to victims of trafficking prepared to testify against or lodge a complaint any person having harmed them while infringing anti-trafficking laws. The temporary resident’s permit would be renewable. Once this phase was over and the proceedings completed, the trafficking victim or the person who had testified could be issued with a permanent resident’s permit.

The parliamentary taskforce’s recommendation regarding seizure, during the investigation phase, of all movable and immovable goods of the person under investigation was integrated into the Draft Law and adopted at the first reading. Efforts are currently under way to increase powers to include trafficking networks in the Draft Law.

The main issues as far as the victims are concerned are their right to stay in the country and their significant fear of the trafficking networks, which are often capable of extreme violence. More facilities specializing in the care of victims of trafficking need to be provided. In addition to providing shelter, such facilities might offer, for a period of three months, medical and psychological care as well as help with social integration, tailored to the needs of each victim. This three-month period should allow the victims enough time to begin reconstructing their lives and decide whether to remain in France or return to their home countries.

In the view of the parliamentary taskforce, victims deciding to remain on French territory should be issued with a temporary resident’s permit, valid for six months, renewable, and accompanied by a work permit, in return for cooperation with the police and the courts. The victim would be monitored by an authorized agency until the end of the legal proceedings.

Should the victim prefer to return his or her country of origin, the State should provide the necessary assistance, and especially financial assistance. The taskforce expressed its support for the creation of facilities funded by France and supported by non-governmental organizations, in the country of origin.

The taskforce recommends the creation of an offence of trafficking in persons, to be inserted into a new section of Chapter V of the Penal Code, “on offences against human dignity”, in the second book of the Code, “on crimes and offences against persons”. The addition of such provisions, centred around a central offence stipulating all aggravating circumstances, would require simultaneous revision of certain other offences involved in efforts to repress trafficking, such as that of procuring.

Compared with the fines imposed as part of the repression of procuring (between 150,000 and 4.5 million Euros), the fines imposed for prostitution seem somewhat derisory in comparison with the profits generated by sexual exploitation. The application of financial sanctions as well as procedures for seizure could therefore benefit from being strengthened. The objective is to attack the networks at their most sensitive point: their profits. The taskforce proposes that the strengthened provisions already existing in the trafficking of drugs and money laundering be extended to the world of procuring. In particular, authorization could be given for the seizure of assets, perhaps during the investigation phase, or perhaps the confiscation of all or part of the assets of a convicted individual.

To help ensure that policies to combat networks for the trafficking of human beings are genuinely effective, the taskforce recommends:

– authorizing infiltration operations for the crimes of trafficking and child pornography;

– using as a foundation the sanctions regime applicable for violations of the press laws over the Internet, which provides for “connected responsibility”, under which charges may be transferred from one person to the next, if the first person cannot be identified.

The report recommends creating a national entity in the form of an inter-ministerial taskforce, responsible for the slavery problem as a whole. It also proposes that training of police and magistrates in this area should be provided as soon as initial training begins. Agencies involved in the fight against trafficking should be set up in certain jurisdictions that are more particularly concerned by the problem.

The essential role played by field organizations should be given increased support. It would desirable to set up a “help line” enabling individuals in danger to call at any hour of the day.

In order to help foster a change in public attitudes and encourage new perspectives on the phenomenon of prostitution, information campaigns, involving posters or radio or TV spots, should be designed.

Lastly, within the context of European Union enlargement, the taskforce believes that the concrete implementation of international standards on trafficking in human beings should be among the criteria employed for evaluating the candidacy of certain countries.

Created under a Decree of 3 August 1999, the National Victims Assistance Board (CNAV) is responsible for implementing an effective policy on assistance to victims. The Council is responsible for ensuring the coherence of, and coordinating actions related to the provision of assistance to victims. It must therefore ensure that public agencies, local communities and the network of victims’ assistance organizations work effectively together. The Board is composed of ministry officials, elected representatives, and 12 eminent, qualified individuals appointed because of their involvement in policies to provide assistance to victims of crimes.

During 2001, as part of the work of the CNAV, a group was created to address the question of victims of modern slavery. This group focused its work on the plight of the victim, in terms of residence rights (in the case of victims of foreign nationality) and in terms of the availability of specialized shelters offering victims an effective and suitable alternative, upon their escape from the environment in which they were exploited. The need to raise the awareness of, and improve the information provided to public and professionals, both in the country of origin and the host country, was also apparent. On 19 March 2002, the CNAV, meeting in plenary session, and under the presidency of the Attorney General, adopted its report on the situation regarding modern forms of slavery.

A subcommittee on “prostitution and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation” has been incorporated into the new national coordinating authority on violence against women.

The trafficking of human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a particularly intolerable form of violence, and the extremely disturbing situation suffered by victims of prostitution represents the central focus of the work assigned to the first subcommittee, set up on 29 January 2002 within the framework of the national commission on violence against women, created by Decree of 21 December 2001.

Whereas the perspectives provided by the official reports mentioned previously are primarily concerned with trafficking in human beings, it is the links between the two subjects — prostitution and trafficking — that must provide the focus of the group’s work.

Furthermore, in recognizing that the human body cannot be reduced to a mere commodity and that the prostitute is a victim, one can, in approaching the issue of prostitution, emphasize the problem of combating sexist violence, but also the more general problem of the inequality of the two sexes and the relationships of domination and dependence that exist between men and women. The subcommittee submitted its report, entitled “The system of prostitution: a form of violence against women”, on 5 March 2002. The report identified prostitution as a manifestation of sexist violence. Among the main recommendations made in the report was the need to conduct a survey facilitating a quantitative evaluation of prostitution and trafficking.

Under the Act of 4 March 2002 concerning parental authority,^[4] the question of prostitution of minors was addressed through specific proposals. A new section, entitled “On the recourse to the prostitution of a minor” was inserted into the Penal Code, following the provisions on the suppression of procuring.

Since there were certain gaps in the law on minor prostitutes between 15 and 18 years of age, a specific offence was introduced to address individuals who solicit, accept or obtain “in exchange for payment or promise of payment, relations of a sexual nature on the part of a minor involved in prostitution”. This new crime, of recourse to the prostitution of minors, is also directed at clients of minor prostitutes, who incur three years of imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 Euros. This penalty is increased to five years in prison, and a fine of 75,000 Euros, in the event of aggravating circumstances.

Aggravating circumstances apply whenever a minor of 15 years of age is involved (15 years of imprisonment and a fine of 3 million Euros), whenever the offence is habitual in nature, whenever the author abuses the authority deriving from his position, or whenever the minor has been put into contact with the perpetrator of the offence through an Internet-type network.

As with existing provisions on sex offences, the new provisions are also applicable when committed by a French citizen outside the national territory.

In the past, France had tended to cling to an “abolitionist” tradition, in focusing its efforts on eradicating the exploitation of prostitution by procurers. By penalizing sexual relations involving minors for financial gain, lawmakers have for the first time turned their attention to the “client”. This represents a significant advance.

The role of women in public life, particularly their place in political decision-making, remains a Government priority.

The Government in power until the end of April 2002 included nine women, representing 27 per cent of the total of 33 members. They held the following portfolios:

Note that some of these portfolios are of the very first importance. Indeed, two women held the third and fourth most important positions in the Government.

1. New constitutional and legislative provisions intended to promote parity in political life

The constitutional review approved by Parliament at its joint session of 28 June 1999 established the principle of equal access of men and women to electoral mandates and elective posts. Under article 3 of the Constitution, the law is responsible for promoting equal access, while article 4 provides that political parties and political groups “facilitate implementation of this principle”.

In December 1999, the Government presented to the National Assembly a Draft Law “intended to facilitate equal access by men and women to electoral mandates and elective posts”, as well as a Draft Organic Law for the Overseas Territories (New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna Islands). The two Draft Laws were adopted on 6 June 2000.

The Government chose parity (50 percent of candidates of each sex). The new legislation accordingly provides for the following:

Furthermore, with regard to legislative elections, and in an effort to ensure that political parties and governments play a central role in the renewal of French political life, the new legislation provides financial sanctions for those who fail to respect the principle of parity of political candidacy, by failing to present 50 per cent of candidates of each sex (within a 2 per cent margin).

The new legislation provides mechanisms that are simple and focused on achieving a balance between mandatory measures and financial sanctions, while not undermining the existing electoral system.

These new provisions were applied for the first time during the municipal elections of March 2001, at which the proportion of woman town councillors were almost doubled. Women now make up 47.5 per cent of councillors in towns with more than 3,500 inhabitants, compared with 25 per cent previously.

Women’s position within other local institutions (regions and départements) remains weak. In 1998, women accounted for 25 per cent of all regional councillors and 7.9 per cent of département councillors.

4. Creation of parliamentary delegations on women’s rights and equality between men and women

Act No. 99-585 of 12 July 1999 created parliamentary delegations on women’s rights and equality between men and women, in both Assemblies of the national parliament.

Mention should be made of the rapid progress achieved within the Constitutional Council. Of the nine Council members appointed by the President of the Republic and the Presidents of both Assemblies, three are women. This reflects considerable political will within France’s highest authorities.

Women make up the majority of staff in the State Civil Service, accounting for over 50 per cent of staff in 2000. The most spectacular progress has been witnessed among category A staff, of whom 54.3 per cent were women in 2000, against 33 per cent in 1982. However, women account for less than 15 per cent of the highest positions.

The most senior jobs, which are appointed by the Council of Ministers, remain largely closed to women: in 1997, women held just 6.6 per cent of such jobs, and in 2000, 10 per cent.

Within the State agencies (State Council, Court of Accounts, and General Inspectorate of Finances), the proportion of women is still low, despite a considerable improvement that has seen the proportion of women more than triple in 15 years, from 5.6 per cent in 1985 to 17.1 per cent in 2000.

The same applies at the head of department, assistant director and deputy director levels, where the number of women has increased considerably, from 7 per cent in 1982 to 20.6 per cent in 2000. The increase in the proportion of women is encouraging for the future, because the women concerned are often relatively young, and in mid-career.

	Percentage of women in State Civil Service in 2000
Category	Overall	Excluding national education

A	54.3	33.8
B	67.1	48.9
C and D	52.9	47.3

Source: Ministry for the Civil Service and Administrative Reform — Administration and Civil Service Department.

	Percentage of women in senior State Civil Service positions
Position	1997	2000

Appointments made by Council of Ministers
Directors in central administration	7.7	17.6
Rectors	12.9	24.1
Heads of mission with rank of ambassador	6.4	7.3
Prefects	3.4	4.9

Posts of senior responsibility and inspector-general posts filled by government appointment
State agencies	15.9	17.1
Heads of department, assistant directors, deputy directors	19.1	20.6
Inspectors-general (except finance)	18.6	20.4
Chief treasurers	3.1	5.3
Heads of locally based central government departments	8.2	8.9
Presidents of regional chambers of accounts	0	8
Presidents of CAs and CAAs	10.5	7.9
Total	12	14.1

Source: Ministry for the Civil Service and Administrative Reform — Administration and Civil Service Department.

Some of the measures recommended in the report previously referred to, entitled “Senior administration in the civil service”, submitted on 16 February 1999, were implemented in 2000-2001.

The Act concerning professional equality between men and women, adopted on 9 May 2001, provides for a balanced representation of men and women in the civil service, on professional entrance and examination boards, and as administration representatives on advisory bodies, such as joint administrative committees, joint technical committees, and health and safety committees.

2.2. Long-term plans to improve women’s access to senior administrative jobs and positions

In application of the Prime Minister’s Circular of 6 March 2000, most ministries have prepared, and submitted to their joint technical committees, long-term plans to improve women’s access to senior administrative jobs and positions.

Moreover, in application of the Circular of the Ministry of the Civil Service and State Reform, of 5 December 2000, each ministerial department must, before the end of 2001, appoint a coordinator responsible for all matters related to women’s position within their departments.

2.3. A steering committee on equal access by men and women to senior civil service positions

On 10 November 2000, a steering committee was set up on equal access by men and women to senior civil service positions. The steering committee was charged with gathering data about training, recruitment and advancement with respect to women’s access to the civil service or their career development. The committee is also responsible for identifying discrimination against women regarding access to senior positions, making recommendations for remedying the inequalities identified, and evaluating the effects of measures taken.

The steering committee is composed of nine members, appointed for a period of five years by the Minister for the Civil Service and State Reform. In its report, submitted on 29 June 2001, the committee recommended a group of studies, many of which are already under way, regarding competitive examinations for entrance to the so-called grandes écoles (France’s prestigious higher education institutes, such as the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, the Ecole nationale d’administration, and the Ecole polytechnique) and career development (e.g. hospital directors). The Committee also recommended that the adjustment and reduction of the working week should be an opportunity to consider and improve the harmonization of people’s working and family lives and thereby help achieve the professional equality of men and women.

III. Economic and social bodies and the dialogue between government, employers and the trades unions

1. Women’s position in representative organizations within the social and economic sectors

On 8 March 2000 the Prime Minister asked the Economic and Social Council to conduct an inquiry into women’s position in economic and social bodies and the dialogue between government, employers and the trades unions. The Council’s report led to an opinion, adopted by the Economic and Social Council on 20 December 2000.

2. Women’s position in the dialogue between government, employers and the trades unions

In 2000 the Higher Council for Professional Equality (CSEP) set up a working group comprising representatives of the country’s leading management and union groups, charged with investigating women’s position in union and professional associations. Considerable attention was paid to women’s access to positions as elected staff representatives, positions of responsibility on the various decision-making bodies of union organizations, positions as industrial relations board officers and boards of joint social welfare agencies.

On 20 December 2000 an opinion was issued on this subject. Some of the CSEP’s recommendations were reflected in the provisions of the Act concerning professional equality between men and women of 9 May 2001. The Act also stipulates that during re-elections for industrial relations boards, union organizations must put forward their lists of candidates in a manner that helps increase the percentage of women elected. The Act further states that, for professional elections, union organizations must, when drawing up their pre-election cooperation agreement, consider how they can achieve a balanced representation of men and women on the list of candidates. Lastly, the Act provides that, within all companies employing at least 200 workers, the workers’ council must set up a committee on professional equality.

There is no legal form of discrimination preventing women from representing their Government at the national level or from participating at a senior level in the work of international organizations.

However, although considerable progress has been made, the proportion of women occupying such senior positions remains markedly lower than that of men.

In 2001 the Ministry for Foreign Affairs adopted a long-term plan to improve women’s access to senior jobs and posts. The plan aims to achieve an optimum balance between the posts effectively occupied and the pool of women eligible for senior administrative posts. In addition to recruitment and promotion efforts, this policy seeks to achieve a more balanced composition of administration representatives on joint administrative commissions as well as on professional entrance and examination boards. The proportion of women on such boards was 38 per cent in 2001.

Within the French diplomatic service, the proportion of women among all category A officers (27 per cent) is growing, but remains low among senior posts. It should be noted that, in an effort to achieve greater balance, the proportion of women being promoted exceeds the proportion of women staff in the departments concerned.

– 13 women Ambassadors and two women permanent representatives of international organizations (15 out of a total 167 positions, or 9.5 per cent);

– 10 women consuls general and one woman consul (11 out of a total 98 positions, or over 10 per cent).

There were 30 women in positions of responsibility (two were appointed by a decision of the Council of Ministers) out of a total 149 positions (20 per cent). The proportion of women is higher for less senior posts (deputy director or similar): 24 assistant directors or similar, 2 heads of department, 2 deputy heads of department, 1 diplomatic adviser to the Government and 1 director.

With regard to positions as experts within the United Nations system; as of 31 December 2001, 3 out of 14 positions occupied by French citizens were occupied by women. However, not one of the three French judges was a women.

In 2001, as recommended by the National Assembly, the President of the Republic appointed a woman as his personal representative to prepare the 2002 United Nations General Assembly Special Assembly on Children.

As regards international civil servants, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs encourages women to put themselves forward as candidates for positions advertised by international organizations. Of 121 French citizens recruited for senior posts within international organizations, 94 are men and 27 (22.3 per cent) are women.

There has been no change in French domestic law regarding the transfer of nationality, since the last report was submitted.

France would like to reiterate that the principle of equality between men and women concerns the acquisition, loss and retention of French nationality. Under article 21-11 of the Civil Code, acquisition of nationality may be brought forward, at the express will of the individual:

– from the age of 16 onwards, for minors resident in France who must have had their normal residence in France for a continuous or intermittent period of at least five years since the age of 11;

– from the age of 13 onwards by parents of the minor and with the minor’s personal consent, if the minor resides in France and has had his normal residence in France for a continuous or intermittent period of at least five years since the age of eight.

The promotion of equal opportunities for men and women within the education sector is a matter of national priority. This has been reflected since February 2000 in an “inter-ministerial agreement on the promotion of equal opportunities between girls and boys and men and women in the education system”, signed by the Ministry of Education, Research and Technology; the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training.

The agreement defines, at the inter-ministerial level, objectives requiring regular follow-up by all partners. It also makes available resources that will increase the awareness of all those involved concerning continued unequal treatment of men and women, and thus empower them to instigate the cultural, administrative and technical procedures required to bring to a definitive end certain discriminatory practices.

The measures implemented are in line with the three main focuses of the inter-ministerial agreement:

1. Improving the educational and professional orientation of girls and boys and adapting initial training to job prospects, by encouraging young women to take up scientific and technical subjects

The objective is to improve the educational and professional orientation of girls and boys. It is particularly important to adapt reorientation classes for boys or girls wishing to switch to the scientific or technological sectors, to ensure that information is available, throughout students’ school careers, about employment sectors, professions and the employment situation, especially in key areas traditionally reserved for boys, and to ensure that academic qualifications match employment opportunities as effectively as possible.

A special edition of the Official Journal, entitled “Elementary, Middle and High Schools: from coeducation to equality”, was distributed very widely among senior teaching staff around the country. This is a pragmatic educational tool, intended to be discussed and explored, together with students. It is intended to inspire questions and reflections, on the basis of real day-to-day situations.

Every year, regional commissions on women’s rights and equality, together with staff of the Ministry of Education and educational institutions, award scientific and technical vocation prizes to girls who have chosen to follow scientific and technical careers. In 2001, as in 2000, 600 prizes, worth 762.25 Euros each, were awarded.

Moreover, the Ministry for Research has launched an action programme designed to make young women better informed about higher education courses in the sciences and steer them toward such courses, as well as to promote their access to research grants. This objective was reflected in the outcome of the workshop “Science and technology: why girls?” held on 26 October 2000, where it was decided to set up an administrative entity in the form of a Permanent Taskforce on Parity in Science and Technology (MPST). The purpose of the taskforce is to define and implement measures aimed at strengthening women’s presence in scientific studies and careers, while helping to ensure that the principle of parity continues to be adopted by agencies within the purview of the Ministry of Research.

It has also been determined that at least 35 per cent of candidates awarded apprenticeships must be girls, in the hope that this will help increase the proportion of women employed in the high technology sector, in particular.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has launched a long-term programme aimed at promoting equality within its agricultural training departments, as well in its operational and administrative sectors.

In order to encourage women to join the business sector, partnerships setting progress targets will be set up with the professions involved. Employment counselling services will be introduced, if necessary through local agreements. In the case of those at a later stage of their careers wishing to join or rejoin the sector, measures will be introduced to ensure that companies take more account of candidates’ professional experience. These measures will help adult women in particular, since their early training is generally inferior to that received by men, and their professional careers are often cut short.

Specific measures have been taken to make educators around the country more aware of the need to achieve greater equality between men and women.

Educators receive training in how to promote equal opportunity. Specific training modules have been introduced into teachers’ initial training. The programme in question is the initial training for teachers and inspectors in the national education system. Modules providing training in equality between men and women have been prepared and tested within the country’s Teacher Training Institutes (IUFM). An identical process was introduced at careers counsellors training centres as well as for teachers in the agricultural sector. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training are currently preparing an educational programme on equality intended for the académies (national education districts), the IUFM, and the regional delegations and permanent taskforces on women’s rights and equality within each département.

Efforts to increase the awareness of educators involve two complementary components. The first aims to provide training for all members of the educational community in the comparative situations of girls and boys in the schools, with respect to their school careers and the selection criteria for acceptance on degree courses.

The second component consists of improving relevant statistics by introducing gender-disaggregated data and making them widely available, to help policy makers make informed decisions.

With regard to these improvements in training and information, efforts also need to be made to ensure that study and work conditions match women’s legitimate aspirations.

For example, university halls of residence must be encouraged to adapt their facilities to cater for women students; changes need to be made within certain industry sectors that remain very difficult for women to access; a voluntarist approach must be taken regarding women’s access to positions of responsibility; and efforts must be made to increase women’s presence on professional entrance and examination boards.

Moreover, the Ministry of Education is working to achieve equal access to positions of responsibility within the educational system. Although women account for the majority (62 per cent) of teaching staff, the proportion of women inspectors (26 per cent) is low. A number of contractual targets have been set in this regard.

3. Promoting education based on mutual respect of both sexes, including efforts to combat discrimination and violence

If society is to achieve a thorough understanding of the need to achieve equality between men and women, educational programmes must address the social roles of men and women; sex education needs to be improved, and measures must be taken to prevent sexist violence, focused on fostering increased participation by, and greater responsibility of the wider family. In order to achieve a greater understanding of violence in schools, the Minister of Education, under a Decree of 19 October 2000, set up a committee to tackle violence in schools, charged with working together with other ministerial departments to propose solutions to these various problems.

These various measures show clearly the determination of the French political authorities to respond to any remaining manifestations of inequality. The Ministry of Education, which is the driving force for these measures, has appointed certain prominent individuals to report on women’s presence in higher education and the proportion of women among university lecturers/researchers and among university entrants.^[5]

The following figures illustrate this political will to work to achieve equality between men and women.

	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001

Girls	75.8	75.7	76	75.4	78.3	81.2	80.5	81.8	80.9
Boys	72.2	72.9	73.9	73.3	74.3	76.5	75.6	77.4	76.1

The baccalaureate pass rate for girls continues to climb. It remained above 80 per cent in 2001 and continued to be higher than the rate for boys during the period under consideration.

Indicator		Data for 2000 (percentage)

Proportion of girls (state schools)
Ninth-grade general stream (94.7 per cent of ninth-grade girls chose the general stream)		52.39
Tenth-grade general and technology streams (99.3 per cent of tenth-grade girls chose the general or technology stream)		55.3
Final-year science stream (37.7 per cent of girls in the final year chose the science stream)		42.9
National teaching staff
Percentage of teachers	Primary schools	77.80
	Secondary schools/Further education	56.70
	Administrative/technical/management	64.90
Distribution by category	Category A	58.90
	Category B	78.30
	Category C	66

Proportion of women	1996-1997 (percentage)	1999-2000 (percentage)

Ministry	8.30	45.10
Rectors	12.90	23.30
Central administration
Directors	0	45.50
Deputy Directors	33.30	47.40
Senior administrators	0	50.00
School inspectors	15.40	15.80
Administrative school inspectors	17.90	20.70
Primary education
Teachers	74.70	77.40
Education inspectors	30.40	30.90
Secondary education
Teaching Certificate	50.60	51.40
Certified or similar	59.70	60.50
Inspection board	21.80	23.20
Head teachers	30.70	35.80
Examination board chairpersons
Teaching Certificate	11.80	17.80
CAPES Teaching Certificate	15.70	325
CAPET Teaching Certificate	27.20	33.30

Women are more successful than men during the first university cycle, and this is even more the case during the second cycle. The situation becomes reversed, however, during the third cycle (preparation of doctorates).

Faculty	Percentage of women

Languages	73.9
Literature and Arts	72.8
Pharmacy	66.7
Human and social sciences	65.9
Law and Political science	62.2
Administration, Economics and Industry (AES)	59.2
Natural and Life sciences	56.9
Medicine, Dentistry	55.6
Economics and Management science	50.9
Technical Institutes (IUT’s)	39.7
Material and structural sciences	34.1
Sports science (STAPS)	31.9
Science and technology — Engineering science	18.6

More than three-quarters of women enrolled in higher education study languages, literature, language sciences and arts. They make up the minority in material and structural sciences, engineering science and technical institutes. Although they are in the majority among those having passing the baccalaureate, they are reluctant to choose the longest and most selective courses. Their evaluation results are better than those of boys (at least in French; grades for mathematics are virtually identical), and they therefore make faster progress in their school careers. They are in the majority among those passing the baccalaureate because they reach the end of their secondary education more often, and sooner, than boys, and because they are more successful than boys overall at the baccalaureate.

The proportion of women remains highly variable, however, in the general, technological and professional sectors. In 2001 women accounted for more than 83 per cent of students who passed the literature baccalaureate and two-thirds of those passing in technology (they make up the overwhelming majority in medical and social sciences). They are still in the minority in the sciences, despite recent progress (44.5 per cent in 2001), and make up a very small proportion of those passing in industrial specialities. Over recent years, the gradual rise in popularity of the professional baccalaureate has cut the overall proportion of women passing the baccalaureate (53.1 per cent in 2001). These general trends in women’s subject choices continue at the higher education level. A very high proportion of women students are attracted to university study by the General University Arts Diploma (DEUG), where they account for more than three-quarters of new enrolments, and by health care disciplines, where women make up two-thirds of new enrolments. They are less enthusiastic, however, about opting for selective or competitive disciplines (technical institutes, and especially entrance examinations for the grandes écoles). There are far more women than men among university students in general (57 per cent against 43 per cent), but their progress tends to slow after a few years of study, notably by the third (doctoral) cycle. Over recent years, however, women have begun to close the gap on men when it comes to earning advanced degrees or doctorates.

A study conducted in 2000 revealed that women accounted for 37 per cent of assistant professors and 14 per cent of professors. The picture varies, however, depending on the discipline concerned.

It is in the sciences, which account for half of assistant professors and 40 per cent of professors, that the greatest disparity between men and women is found (29 per cent of assistant professors are women, and less than 10 per cent of professors are women).

In other disciplines, particularly in literature and in health, parity does seem to have been achieved with regard to assistant professorships. This is far from being the case, however, with respect to professorships.

For all disciplines, 44 per cent of male assistant professors are likely to win a professorship, while this applies to only 18 per cent of women. Even in disciplines where there are more women than men assistant professors, men are still more likely to win a professorship.

The increase in the number of women assistant professors and professors also varies according to the university, and the proportion in the Paris region is markedly lower than the national average.

The average age of women is lower than that of men, in all disciplines. One reason for this may be the increase in recruitment efforts over recent years (as a result of which more women from younger age groups have entered the profession).

The past two years have brought significant advances regarding the adoption of legislative and regulatory measures to strengthen existing provisions concerning professional equality between men and women, women’s position in employment policies, and efforts to promote the harmonization of people’s working and family lives.

The main provisions, apart from those designed to tackle discrimination, in article 1, concern professional equality, the regulation of night work by women, the recognition of new forms of violence in the workplace, and the introduction of paid paternity leave.

1. Act of 9 May 2001 concerning professional equality between men and women: strengthening tools for equality through the social dialogue

The Act of 9 May 2001 seeks to strengthen the provisions of the Act of 13 July 1983, by developing social dialogue in the professional and industry sectors, under three main headings.

First, it highlights the need to prepare comparative reports on general employment and training conditions for men and women within industry. Reports must be based on “pertinent indicators, determined by decree, and accompanied, if need be, by indicators specific to each company. Such indicators must be displayed in the workplace and shall constitute the basic collective-bargaining document”.

Second, the Act makes professional equality a major element of collective bargaining, in both the professional and industry sectors, and establishes an obligation to undertake specific negotiations regarding professional equality. Negotiators — that is, the social partners — must base their negotiations on the comparative report. The required frequency of such negotiations varies according to the level of negotiation: every three years for the professional sector, and annually at the industry level. This is in line with negotiations on effective wages and the organization of the working week. However, if negotiations achieve a collective agreement, the frequency is reduced to every three years.

Professional equality must also be taken into account within all mandatory negotiations on wages, classification and professional training at the professional level. Similarly, the objective of professional equality must be included in companies’ mandatory annual negotiations on wages and on the duration and organization of the working week.

All companies of 200 employees or more must set up a committee charged with preparing the deliberations of the works committee on the report concerning the comparative general employment and training conditions of men and women. The committee may prepare company negotiations ahead of time.

Lastly, financial aid, which had previously been reserved for exemplary measures contained in professional equality plans, is broadened to include exemplary measures introduced outside the scope of a professional equality plan, by a simple collective decision. This aid applies to all employers, including associations.

The Act of 9 May concerning professional equality also introduces provisions concerning representation of men and women in elections to industrial relations boards and professional bodies. In view of the low proportion of women holding positions of responsibility on union and professional bodies, provisions have been introduced to encourage women’s access to electoral mandates and elective posts, and one article aims, within the context of elections to industrial relations boards, to include collaborator spouses of artisans among the category of “voter employers”.

Since collaborator spouses are most often women, the article in question offers collaborator spouses of artisans, merchants and farmers the simple ability to stand in for the company manager, and thus to enrol on electoral lists, when appointed by the company manager to do so.

Measures have also been taken to encourage balanced representation of men and women in elections for industrial relations boards and workers’ representative bodies.

With regard to elections for industrial relations boards, the Act of 9 May 2001 created the obligation to present lists of candidates having equal representation of men and women. However, in view of the risk that one sex will be over-represented within a single separate section of the board (at the local level), the National Assembly, in accordance with the wishes of the Higher Council for Professional Equality, has recommended that an obligation to ensure balanced representation of men and women be imposed on organizations submitting lists at the national level. This obligation will be introduced in two phases: a transitional phase, lasting until 2002, and then a blanket provision, applicable in 2007. For the 2002 ballot, the Act stipulates that organizations submitting lists of candidates must observe a proportion of men to women in their lists that, with respect to the previous ballot, reduces by one third the disparity between women’s representation on electoral lists and their share in the electorate.

In 2003 the Government will present a report to Parliament on the implementation of this objective and on how to ensure that future ballots achieve a balanced representation of men and women on the lists that reflects their place in the electorate.

With regard to staff representative bodies, union organizations are encouraged to strive toward a balanced representation of men and women in elections for company staff representatives and when preparing the pre-election cooperation agreement. The Government must present a report to Parliament in December 2003 showing the respective share of men and women in the electorate; among candidates for, and elected members of workers’ committees; and among staff representatives.

The Act of 9 May 2001 also provided an opportunity to revise legislation on night work. The amendments introduced, which essentially amount to the lifting of the ban on night work by women, have two objectives: to bring France’s national legislation into line with Community and international law and to improve working conditions for all employees, both men and women, who perform night work, by strengthening relevant regulations.

At present, 730,000 women perform night work, across all sectors. This represents 7.5 per cent of all women employees compared with 21.1 per cent of men. In the industry sector, there are 650,000 women (1.4 per cent of women employees), against 706,500 men.

While clearly establishing the basic principle that the recourse to night work remained, and should remain, the exception (it may be introduced by collective agreement, if continued economic activity is necessary or if there are compelling social grounds), lawmakers were guided by two major concerns: workers’ health and the harmonization of working life and family life. Protective measures were therefore introduced in this regard.

There are three basic elements in provisions introduced to protect workers’ health: the need for a professional or industrial sector agreement — or, if that is not possible, an agreement from the work inspectorate — to introduce night work (9 AM to 6 PM) or to extend night work to new worker categories; the introduction of night work compensation, in the form of a priority compensatory leave period (which may be accompanied by a salary increase); and the obligation to provide a half-yearly medical check-up for night workers.

Since night work may have major consequences for the balance of employees’ family life, provisions specifically devoted to harmonizing working life and family life were added to measures relating to health.

Company agreements authorizing night work must contain measures aimed at facilitating the harmonization of “night time activity and family responsibilities”, notably by providing means of transport. The employee may refuse to perform night work, if such work is incompatible with urgent family obligations (child care or care of an elderly relative). Such a refusal may not be regarded as a fault. The employee may also, for urgent family reasons, request a transfer to a daytime position. Lastly, pregnant or newly delivered women must, by law, be transferred to a day job or, if this is not possible, have their employment contract suspended. If this is the case, they are entitled to guaranteed pay.

The recognition of new forms of violence in the workplace is established through the adoption of legislative measures concerning psychological and sexual harassment. As with the approach to night work, these provisions on psychological and sexual harassment were adopted in accordance with Community directives in this regard.

The law broadens the definition of persons protected by the law, to include not just employees who have been dismissed or punished, but also candidates for recruitment, a training course, or a work placement.

It also forbids “any discriminatory measure, whether direct or indirect, particularly in regard to pay, training, reassignment, appointment, qualifications, rank, professional promotion, or contract change or renewal” having an impact on the career of the individual concerned (art. 8 of the Act of 9 May 2001 amending art. L. 122-46 of the Labour Code).

This law punishes the abuse of authority, by introducing penalties for sexual harassment by a colleague, into the Labour Code, into the statutes of the three major public service categories, and into the Penal Code. It also introduces penalties for the typical manifestations of sexual harassment (orders, threats, constraints, or pressure), into the Labour Code, into the statutes of the three major public service categories, and into the Penal Code.

The law also alters the burden of proof, with the employee concerned now presenting the elements of fact. It is for the employer to prove that the events in question do not constitute sexual harassment and that its decision is justified by objective elements that have nothing to do with harassment.

Finally, the law introduces a mediation procedure, which can be instigated by any company employee who believes himself or herself to be a victim of harassment. The mediator must come from outside the company and shall be chosen from a list drawn up by the Prefect. The mediator will attempt to reconcile the parties and will submit proposals to them with a view to ending the harassment.

“No employee, no candidate for recruitment, a training course or a company work placement may be dismissed or punished or face any discriminatory measure, whether direct or indirect, notably regarding pay, training, reassignment, appointment, qualifications, rank, professional promotion, or contract change or renewal, because he or she has been the victim of, or has refused to be the victim of actions of harassment taken by an employer, the employer’s representative, or any individual, for the purpose of obtaining favours of a sexual nature for his or her own profit or for the profit of a third person.

“No employee may be punished or dismissed for witnessing or reporting the actions defined in the preceding paragraph.

Employees or officials of the three major public services categories, victims, those who have witnessed or reported the facts of sexual harassment are protected by the law to an identical degree.

The law also provides for sanctions in the case of infringement of the law, whether disciplinary sanctions imposed by the employer on the author of the harassment, or penal sanctions. The following penal sanctions are provided in this regard:

– Any employer who has taken a discriminatory measure against an employee who has been a victim of, witness to, or who has reported the facts of sexual harassment shall incur a penalty of one year’s imprisonment and/or a fine of 3,750 Euros. (art. 152-1-1 of the Labour Code);

– The author of the sexual harassment is punishable by one year’s imprisonment and/or a fine of 15,000 Euros (art. 222-33 of the Penal Code).

Psychological harassment has been an offence in France since adoption of the Act of 17 January 2002 concerning Social Modernization. This offence is introduced into the Labour Code, the Penal Code, and the statutes of the three major public service categories. In this regard, the Act’s objectives are intended to minimize acts of psychological harassment in the professional life of the employee or civil servant, the witness, or the individual reporting the facts.

Psychological harassment is forbidden whether committed by the employer, by any person representing the employer, or among colleagues.

The victim may instigate a mediation procedure. The mediator must come from outside the company and shall be chosen from a list drawn up by the Prefect. The mediator will attempt to reconcile the parties and will submit proposals to them with a view to ending the harassment. In the event that mediation should fail, the mediator shall inform the parties of any sanctions incurred.

An employee who is the victim of, or witness to psychological harassment may have recourse to union organizations representing the company concerned, which will act in his or her name, provided that written agreement is given.

With regard to sanctions, actions of psychological harassment are punishable by:

– Disciplinary sanctions: employees having committed acts of psychological harassment are punishable by disciplinary sanctions on the part of the employer;

– Civil sanctions: any sanction or discriminatory measure resulting from an act of harassment shall be regarded as null and void. The rights of any employee or civil servant, whether the victim of the facts or the individual having reported the facts, who has been subjected to discriminatory measures for refusing or suffering pressure from psychological harassment, shall be fully restored.

– Penal sanctions: the author of the discriminatory measure involved in the psychological harassment is punishable by imprisonment of one year and a fine of 3,750 Euros (art. L.152-1-1 of the Labour Code), and the author of the psychological harassment shall incur imprisonment of one year and a fine of 15,000 Euros (art. 222-33-2 of the Penal Code).

Act No. 2001-1246 of 21 December 2001 on social security funding for 2002 establishes paid paternity leave.

The Act seeks to introduce into the public and private spheres an approach based on equality for men. Lawmakers wished to encourage the affirmation of the role of the father when the new child arrives, by introducing pertinent measures into labour law.

Paid paternity leave of 11 working days is available, at the birth of a child, but also in the event of adoption, to fathers, whether employees, civil servants, or freelance workers. During the leave period, fathers receive an allowance equal to that paid to mothers during their maternity leave.

This new provision came into effect on 1 January 2002. It is intended to help foster the relationship between working life and maternity and paternity, by treating parenthood as a responsibility shared between men and women.

4.2. Harmonization of people’s working and family lives: the Office for harmonization and the Urban Institute

Considerable thought has been given to the harmonization of people’s working and family lives since 2000. In an effort to improve the harmonization of people’s working, family and community lives, and especially those of women, France — like Italy and Germany — has been seeking ways to reform the rhythms of people’s lives within the urban environment.

Within the framework of his mission, the deputy mayor of Rennes held a series of hearings with competent persons on the theme of the harmonization of people’s working and family lives. His report, which highlights the national and local political issues involved, was submitted on 19 June 2001. The report came to the conclusion that the search for an integrated use of people’s time was becoming an essential element of quality of life and equal opportunities, because citizens’ various rights were determined by their ability to control the rhythms of their working and family lives. If such an integrated use of time was to be achieved, local representatives should open a dialogue with their constituents about how to reorganize urban life, and about how to harmonize the lives of men and women, young people and the elderly, and the working hours imposed by public services and private businesses.

Thus, one of the main proposals emerging from this report was the creation of an Office for the harmonization of working life and family life in all towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants. The Offices would be responsible for improving the coordination of public and private business hours with the rhythms of family and working lives.

Poitiers and surrounding area: forum on harmonization set up to foster public debate on various questions related to the harmonization issue. Project focused on the city centre.

Gironde Département: measures introduced to raise the awareness of regional development boards about harmonization policies, and to study and analyse the effects of the Government programme on the Reform and Reduction of Working Hours (ARTT). The Gironde is a rural area, and has thus placed the emphasis on public services in order to combat the isolation of its inhabitants.

Belfort region: focus on transport. Analysis of the region’s public services, business and leisure facilities, individual experiences in the city, mapping of the analysis.

Town of St. Denis: measures to raise people’s awareness of harmonization issues and encourage public debate about them. Experimentation with innovative care arrangements, unusual schedules, survey to analyse needs.

The estimated total cost of these pilot projects is 91,469.41 Euros for one year. Funding is expected to last for three years. Projects are co-funded by DATAR and the local communities concerned. It is expected that the projects will be extended to 10 regions over the next 4 years and that new research tools will be introduced. The National Regional Development Fund will provide the necessary funding. The national monitoring mechanism is comprised of DATAR, the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity (Department of Women’s Rights and Equality and Inter-Ministerial Commission on Urban Development).

The Government will help set up Offices for the harmonization of working life and family life in the major cities and help modernize State services by adapting services under the authority of the Prefect, and in consultation with union organizations. Furthermore, a national innovation fund will be set up to help regional communities in their efforts to reform working hours. The fund is managed by the Inter-ministerial Commission on Urban Development and DATAR.

A national follow-up committee, under the aegis of the Urban Institute, was set up to coordinate the new policy. Half of the committee is made up of local elected officials, and the other half is made up of State civil servants. It will hold an annual conference on the reform of working hours, to evaluate the impact of measures introduced. It will provide a forum for reflection and debate that can alert lawmakers or State civil servants to the difficulties encountered by cities in implementing policy on the harmonization of people’s working and family lives.

4.3. Monitoring companies’ efforts to promote the harmonization of working and family lives

At the request of the Deputy Minister for the Family, Children and the Elderly, the Department of Women’s Rights and Equality has set up a working group to monitor companies’ efforts to harmonize the working and family lives of their employees.

The aim of this working group, which includes social partners, qualified individuals and Government representatives, is to determine how companies might be reorganized to address the constraints involved in harmonizing family life and working life. In an effort to ensure that the process would lead to concrete proposals, it was decided to proceed by holding hearings with companies from different sectors, and of different sizes, and with researchers who had conducted detailed analysis of this subject.

The resulting proposals were designed to meet companies’ need to be competitive, as well as the individual expectations of employees as parents, notably:

– to find ways to help company workers’ councils gauge the impact of the reform of working hours on family life;

– additional coverage of childcare costs incurred by employees during training courses;

In 2000 the activity ratio for women was 48.1 per cent, and for men, 62 per cent.

In the 25-49 age group, the ratio for women was 79.3 per cent, and for men, 94.8 per cent.

In 2000, the areas with the highest proportions of professional women workers were primary education, the intermediary professions of the health sector and social work, company administration, business employees, and direct client services staff.

	Dec. 96	Dec. 97	Dec. 98	Dec. 99	Dec. 2000

Men	11.0	10.6	10.0	9.0	7.7
Women	14.4	14.3	13.5	12.5	10.9
Difference (M:W)	3.4	3.7	3.5	3.5	3.2

Source: INSEE, National Job Agency (ANPE), Statistical and Research Dept. of the Ministry of Labour (DARES).

Ratio of women to men in the workplace, by sector of activity and profession

	March 1997	March 1998	January 1999	March 2000

Top five “high-ratio” sectors¹	72.4	72.6	72.7	73.4
Top five “low-ratio” sectors²	12.0	11.8	12.3	12.4
Top five “high-ratio” socio-professional categories³	81.1	81.3	80.4	80.4
Top five “low-ratio” socio-professional categories⁴	7.0	7.6	8.0	7.9

¹ direct and domestic services; health/social services; clothing – leatherwork; education; property.

² construction; mechanical equipment; car industry; fuel production industry; metals/metals processing.

³ direct client services; admin; civil servants; health/social services; business employees.

⁴ drivers; foremen/supervisors; policemen/soldiers; skilled artisans; skilled warehousemen/transport workers.

Participation by women in employment mechanisms related to the “classic job” (in percentage)

	1996	1997	1998	1999

Percentage of women (excl. part-time reduction)⁵	37.4	36.3	38.5	37.8
Percentage of women (incl. part-time reduction)	43.2	43.5	44.7	44.7

⁵ Includes: apprenticeship, qualification contract, adjustment contract, employment and youth employment initiative contracts since 1998.

Overall, there has been an improvement in women’s situation in the workplace. The major points to note in this context are:

– The increases in activity and employment (hence, improvement in employment rate over time);

– Fall in the unemployment rate (those seeking work at month-end, category 1);

– Fall in part-time work and underemployment (this may be an effect of the ARTT programme and the end of the advantage provided by the part-time exemption);

– The fact that young women are entering the workplace more effectively: shorter intervals between school and employment, nature of graduate jobs, wages (not on an average basis, but assuming an equal education level). Women are at last beginning to capitalize on their better school results ;

– Disparity in unemployment rate: even if the disparity widened slightly this year, it stood at a historically low level in 2000, of 3.4 points;

– Increase in women’s role in employment policy measures, in the trade sector;

Signs of continued problems primarily concern the nature and quality of jobs. Most indicators are not enough to describe persistent problems, which become more apparent when the gender factor is combined with socio-professional categories or education level (for example, the difficulties experienced by women employees regarding access to refresher training, or the unemployment rate among young women without degrees).

Women’s professional activity continues to improve. A total of 192,000 extra workers have entered the market over the past year, and 58 per cent of those have been women. As a result, the activity ratio for women continues to rise, having

climbed from 79.3 per cent to 79.6 per cent in the 25-49 age group. The activity ratio for men declined very slightly over the same period and for the same age group, from 94.8 per cent to 94.6 per cent. This led to a further narrowing of the disparity in the activity ratio between the sexes. For the under 25 age group, the activity ratio for men, like that for women, rose 0.5 per cent, which reflects the end of the extension of the school career. This professional activity is increasingly continuous (81 per cent of active women have one child, 69 per cent have two children, and 49.3 per cent have three or more children).

Men and women have benefited from employment growth. This should be set in the context of the growth in jobs in the tertiary sector (437,000 extra jobs in one year, or a 2.6 per cent rise, compared with less than 1 per cent in agriculture and industry).

In March 2001 the employment rate for those over 15 years of age was 49.9 per cent (57.4 per cent for men and 43.1 per cent for women).

According to data from the 2000 Employment Survey, women’s share of fixed-term contracts (CDD) is 53.2 per cent. Over a one-year period, the fall in the number of fixed-term contracts has been especially beneficial to men (-5.7 per cent).

It does appear that labour practices differ for each sex within the same sector. Recourse to CDD is far greater in companies employing a large proportion of women.^[7] The CDD rate is 7 per cent (average 5 per cent) when women account for at least two-thirds of staff. However, the practice of employing temporary workers is much more common in “masculine” institutions. It reaches a level of 5 per cent when the institution includes 92 per cent men or more (3 per cent on average).

The duration of part-time work is increasing (23.3 hours against 23.1 on average), partially compensating for the overall decline, because of the reduced, 35-hour working week, and the number of hours worked within the context of a full working week (38.3 hours against 38.9 hours).

Rates for part-time work and under-employment are falling. Breaking with the trend observed since 1999, the fall in part-time work continues for men and women. The proportion of enforced part-time work is 42.2 per cent among men, against 47.6 per cent, and 31.5 per cent for women, against 33.1 per cent (we may recall that in 1997 the underemployment rates for part-time jobs were 36.7 per cent for women and 51.5 per cent for men).

Women have benefited from the fall in demand for employment (job seekers at the end of the month, category 1). In 2000 the fall was 15.8 per cent among women and 16.7 per cent among men.

Women in particular have benefited from the fall in long-term unemployment (source: International Labour Organization (ILO) Survey). The proportion of women unemployed for more than a year fell from 41.2 per cent to 35.6 per cent between March 2000 and March 2001, while the proportion of men fell from 38.9 per cent to 35 per cent over the same period.

However, there continue to be too many unemployed women. In May 2001 they accounted for 51.2 per cent of job seekers (56 per cent according to the ILO) and 53 per cent of the demand for employment among young people. These figures should be set against women’s share in the working population: 45.8 per cent in March 2001.

The disparity between the unemployment rates for men and women has fallen considerably over the past 20 years, although it has risen slightly since 2000. Unemployment rates, according to the definition of the ILO, are 10.7 per cent for women and 7.1 per cent for men (they have fallen 1.1 points and 1.3 points respectively in a year). The disparity has therefore risen by 0.2 points since March 2000.

Among young people, the disparity between the unemployment rates for men and women is 5.6 points. The 2000 Employment Survey also showed that:

– for several population sectors, job rate discrepancies between men and women remain high;

– the disparity in the unemployment rates for men and women is over seven points for manual workers and foreigners;

– inequalities in unemployment between those who have no degree and baccalaureate + two years are: nine points for men and 13.4 points for women.

Young women are continuing to benefit from their higher education level: they have a slightly higher tendency than young men to occupy a senior or intermediate position on leaving the school system (42 per cent against 40 per cent) and less often occupy an unqualified position (19 per cent against 25 per cent). However, assuming an equal education level, they are still disadvantaged compared with their male counterparts. In the same way, they earned salaries that are slightly higher than those of boys, but, assuming an equal education level, the difference is 10 per cent, to the girls’ disadvantage. Assuming comparable educational level, especially below the baccalaureate level, the disparity between men and women remains considerable.

Women’s access to refresher training continues to improve and the discrepancies between average access rates continue to fall. This needs to be seen in relation to the increasing presence of women among senior management and higher intellectual professions, especially in the public sector. It appears, in fact, that the obstacles in terms of access to training tend to be of a socio-professional nature (better access for men and women senior managers) or connected, in the private or public sectors, to differences between men and women.

Women remain very much in the minority when it comes to business creation, accounting for 30 per cent of those creating business.

Women’s participation in enterprise creation would seem to be identical to their share in economic activity in general at the end of World War Two.

According to a report by the Agency for Business Creation (APCE), “The changing profile of those who create businesses and the businesses created”, the growth in women’s activity is too recent a phenomenon to have an effect on individual initiative. The report also notes that structural effects largely explain the discrepancies observed:

– age: more women than men take the initiative to create a business after the age of 40 (44 per cent against 38.1 per cent). The continuity rate improves as people get older, but decreases after the age of 45;

– activity: continuity rates are similar for men and women, regardless of their previous situation, except for that of long-term unemployment. Companies created by those not in active employment and the long-term unemployed have the lowest continuity rates, and more women are inactive and in long-term unemployment when creating their company. They generally choose an activity different from their previous activity, and this reduces their chance of success. They also have less experience in business creation.

– The previous level of training and qualification determines success, so women creating businesses are at once better educated and less qualified.

It certainly cannot be said that women are less successful than men, and it appears that entrepreneurial practices are also tending to converge:

The latest results of May 2001 for globally applied measures show that women continue to be in the majority (and their share continues to grow) when it comes to assisted contracts in the non-trade sector. Women continue to be in the minority when it comes to measures most closely related to the classic job. However, there has been a fairly clear improvement among contracts concerning initiatives for employment and among employment access training programmes, where women’s share is 40.1 per cent (against 38.7 per cent in December 2000) and 44 per cent (against 43.1 per cent), respectively.

Statistics for the year 2000 reveal a proportion of 56 per cent of women in the “New departures” programme. With regard to measures concerning young people, and with the notable exception of the apprenticeship contract (28 per cent women), the situation appears more balanced: qualification contract (47 per cent); the “Road to employment” programme (TRACE) (51.1 per cent), and new youth employment services (50.8 per cent).

Age group	Men	Women	Percentage of women

16-17	34 343	27 183	44.2
18-21	82 112	105 597	56.3
22-25	42 919	55 299	56.3
26+	1 399	2 084	59.8
Total	160 773	190 162	54.2

National health policies incorporate a gender-equality dimension into all activities.

Measures taken to tackle violence against women are dealt with in the context of this article.

Most Regional Prevention and Care Programmes (PRAPS) address the issue of women’s access to health care. In certain situations, their gender makes women additionally vulnerable (pregnancy at a time of family break-up, violent scenarios, women who are young or whose status is undocumented).

An identical approach is taken with both sexes when it comes to programmes of prevention. Accordingly the “Young people’s health line”, a free, anonymous telephone service which received 1.2 million Euros in funding from the Ministry for Employment and Solidarity in 2001, offers a sympathetic ear, information and guidance on matters relating to physical and mental health and social well-being. This system is particularly helpful to boys, who have little time for the mainstream prevention and care networks; girls are more likely to frequent these. In 2001, young people of both sexes were the focus of publicity campaigns. The first part was a brochure on preventive care and sex education containing separate entries for girls and boys; this was supplemented by young people’s courses, run under the auspices of an inter-ministerial partnership, on the subject: “Is risky behaviour the same for boys and girls?”.

In July 1999, the government formulated an action plan as the prelude to a new policy on contraception and the prevention of unwanted pregnancies.

In 2000, a public information campaign embracing the media (T.V. spots, radio messages and press advertisements), leaflets describing the different forms of contraception, and 2000 local activities organized by regional representatives and women’s rights officers from the départements, succeeded in placing contraception back at the heart of public debate.

A second information campaign, under the slogan “Contraception: don’t let events decide for you” began in January 2001. The first phase comprised a week-long poster campaign on public transport.

The campaign will extend throughout the year in the form of local events geared to three areas of intervention:

– promoting effective use of contraception by women and their partners, on the basis of the information component;

– mobilizing health professionals and putting in place health education initiatives designed to establish a genuine dialogue between them and their clients;

– devising local activities, for implementation by steering committees from the départements, designed to make information on, and the use of, contraceptive devices more accessible to vulnerable groups such as women in social difficulties, women suffering from sensory impairments or women migrants.

Act No. 2001-588 of 4 July 2001 on voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) and contraception stipulates that at least three sessions per year at primary schools, junior-high schools and lycées, and at all facilities for the disabled, must be devoted to teaching and information about sex.

The Act permits sterilisation on contraceptive grounds, hitherto against the law. Article 24 makes it legal to prescribe, dispense and administer contraceptives to minors without the consent of their parents, guardians or legal representatives. The Act also allows pharmacies to dispense free emergency contraception to minors without a prescription.

2. Voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG): adapting the law to women’s needs

The Act of 4 July 2001 amends and updates the previous legislation relating to IVG and contraception. Most of its provisions came into force with the act’s publication. However, the certain measures come into force only on publication of the statutes and regulations.

– the extension of the legal time limit for using IVG, now between ten and twelve weeks, will reduce significantly the number of women forced to go abroad to seek a termination;

– measures encouraging health facilities to perform IVG’s will ensure better access for women:

– every department or unit head must provide this public service under the terms of the Hospitals Act;

– the restriction on the number of IVG’s performed in private hospitals previously imposed under the 1975 Act has been abolished.

Access to IVG will no longer be blocked; stronger action will be taken against those who hamper the legal performance of IVG’s (expansion of the definition of disruption, heavier penalties).

The ending of the ban on propaganda and advertising will make it easier to take measures to prevent unwanted pregnancies and IVG’s.

During the initial consultation about a possible IVG, the physician must inform the woman about the medical and surgical methods involved in termination, as well as the risks and potential after-effects. At this interview, she will be given a “guidance and information pack” (currently in preparation). This provides full details about IVG and the various types of method and facility available.

The conditions relating to the statutory interview have been adapted to women’s needs, mainly with regard to age. Thus, adults are no longer required to have such an interview prior to the IVG, although it is strongly recommended. All women are offered a second statutory interview afterwards.

The Act does not alter the principle of parental authorization, which remains the rule. However, provision is made for an exception in the case of non-emancipated minors who are prevented from obtaining the consent of at least one of the holders of parental authority or who wish to maintain confidentiality when faced with lack of parental understanding. In these situations, they receive adult support at every stage of the process.

– With regard to terminations for medical reasons, a consultation is encouraged:

The woman is familiarised with the procedure during the consultation by the physician of her choice; she may be interviewed alone or with her partner.

2.2. The whole body of provisions under the Act of 4 July 2001 must be implemented

– Planned measures for resolving problems associated with the act’s enforcement:

The problems that have come to the attention of the Ministry for Employment and Solidarity mainly concern the 10-12 week limit and minors for whom no parental consent has been given.

A support group whose original task was to facilitate the integration of IVG centres into gynaecology and obstetrics units has now been given the additional brief of supervising the implementation of the Act of 4 July 2001. The group will analyse the problems, try to solve them where possible, and make proposals as necessary.

– The application of certain provisions is conditional upon the drafting of implementing regulations:

The six planned draft decrees have been written. They are either at the discussion stage or ready for transmission to the Council of State. The coming into force of these decrees will:

– allow women requiring a medical termination to familiarize themselves with the examination and consultation processes;

– put in place a complete set of rules governing access and care for minors who wish to maintain confidentiality.

2.3. Adaptation of the information tools for helping women through the procedures: revision of the guidance and information pack

The new guidance and information pack will prepare women better (updated legal information, help with procedures, details of the available options, specific information for minors, etc.).

Health care establishments will be allocated additional resources to improve the level of care available for IVG (conversion of sessional posts to contractual posts, recruitment of psychologists, improved reception procedure). For 2002, a budget equivalent to that of 2001 (almost 1.83 million Euros, or 12 million francs) will be allocated for use at the establishments experiencing the worst problems.

2.5. Health care establishments will be encouraged to operate on a year-round basis and to improve their reception facilities for women

Particular focus will be placed on the output of regional contraception and IVG information offices, especially the information they provide for women and professionals about facilities, and on the quality of the information provided for women (availability of establishments, techniques available). The capabilities of the regional offices dealing with health and social matters relating to contraception should improve as a result of the funding already allocated (12 million francs) and the further amount now being decided.

A Circular analysing the performance of these offices and making suggestions for improvements is about to be issued.

At the request of the directorate-general for health of the Ministry for Employment and Solidarity, the National Agency for Health Accreditation and Evaluation (ANAES) has issued guidelines on good IVG practice for distribution to professionals. An assessment of their implementation will be carried out (in particular the use of the medicinal version, currently used in only 20 per cent of cases).

– improved training for physicians, with particular reference to IVG carried out around the 10-12 week limit which has now become legal;

– awareness-raising and improved training for the other staff involved in the IVG process (reception, information, patient support);

– raising physicians’ awareness of the decisive role played by the initial consultation in expediting and facilitating women’s passage through treatment.

Two of the first three screening programmes to have been set up concern women: cervical cancer and breast cancer. A particular objective is to bring high-quality, accessible breast cancer screening to all of the 7,400,000 women in the 50-74 age group.

The universal nature of the breast screening campaign has made it possible for mammography to be funded under the social insurance “risk” budget, with the administrative costs being covered by ministries and by the National Fund for Prevention, Research and Intervention in Health Care (FNPEIS).

The overall cost of the national programme to tackle cancer, announced on 1 February 2000, is 15.24 million Euros over 5 years, including 3.96 million in 2001 and 7.62 million in 2002.

The funding will mainly go to a central organization responsible for setting up a mass cancer screening programme (information campaigns, professional training, development of a data system linked to the National Institute for Health Monitoring, development of monitoring systems, research grants).

An additional 3.5 million Euros will be allocated from the state budget to mount a media campaign intended to raise women’s awareness of breast cancer screening and provide them with information.

4. A programme that specifically targets women in the framework of the campaign against HIV/AIDS

Between 1999 and 2000, the number of confirmed Aids cases among men continued to decline (a 9 per cent drop, from 1,340 to 1,226). At the same time, the number of women with Aids increased from 418 to 457, or an increase of 9 per cent, caused by a rise in the number of diagnosed cases among African women. Heterosexual infection is now the most common form (44 per cent of confirmed cases).

In this context, it is clearly important to continue and strengthen programmes concerned with reducing the sexual risks run by women and making the cervical cap more widely available. The preventive strategy that will be used for the national programme, emulated in suitable form at the local level, includes among its guiding principles the notion that “the prevention programmes must take systematic account of the social aspects of gender and focus on men’s and women’s joint responsibility in matters concerning sexuality and prevention”.

Since the start of 1998, following the first symposium on “Women and HIV infection”, an overall national programme to reduce the sexual risks run by women has been put in place, which also takes into account the problems relating to unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and Aids. This programme, specific to women, is intended to reinforce the work already done at the local level through so-called “community-based” activities. The basis for the programme is a three-year agreement with France’s main family planning body (Confédération du Mouvement français pour le planning familial), which has been called in to implement and coordinate the programme. In view of the increasing number of female Aids victims (see table), this programme has become an urgent priority.

Comparative ratios of men and women infected by HIV

1988: One woman for every 7 men
1999: One woman for every 3 men

As part of the programme, eighty female leaders from the above-mentioned family planning organization will receive training in all matters relating to sexual risk and in providing help with personal behaviour, the aim being to raise awareness levels and form groups of women in difficulty. By the end of 2000, they had trained 2,600 women in 40 départements, some of whom had gone on to become “adult health intermediaries” working in programmes set up in towns by inter-ministerial teams. These programmes, run by “intermediaries” from various associations and communities, have been subjected to independent appraisal. The results show that the women recipients felt they were better able to discuss sexual relations with their partners, and even their children, and more capable of negotiating the use of protection with their partners.

The programme makes cervical caps more accessible (cost, information, etc.) as a specific means of preventing HIV/Aids, as well as sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. This contraceptive method is the only one that women can use independently. Since the start of its distribution in France, 600,000 have been given out free or sold. A clinical group is currently evaluating its long-term acceptability. It makes women less vulnerable and allows them to take charge of their own health. As such, it is playing a decisive role in raising women’s awareness of sexual risks and helping them respond appropriately. Since the start of 2001, two supermarket chains have been incorporated into the retail distribution network in order to improve access.

In the framework of the main public awareness campaign on HIV begun in early 2001, the promotion of the cervical cap, although still a relatively private matter, has been very successful. A booklet entitled “Question of love” explaining how to use the cervical cap was produced for the campaign, and 400,000 copies were distributed to the intermediaries in institutions and associations, gynaecologists and family planning centres. Under a partnership agreement with a supermarket, 160,000 copies have been published for distribution through “parapharmacies”.

It is thought that at least 20,000 women and 10,000 girls in France have suffered sexual mutilation or live under its threat.

The risks female practitioners of circumcision now incur in France have led them to change their ways. Whereas previously, parents clubbed together to have the circumciser come to their houses, the tactic being used more and more frequently is to mutilate girls when they are on holiday in their country of origin. The publicity surrounding the trials of some practitioners and parents has raised awareness of sexual mutilation, and there has been a change in people’s thinking; in certain cases, the law has been changed in countries where mutilation is still practised.

Concerning requests for refugee status made on grounds of sexual mutilation, since 1991 the jurisprudence applied by the Committee for Refugee Applications has held that circumcision practised on a woman against her will may constitute persecution under the meaning of the 1951 Geneva Convention, and may confer entitlement to refugee status if a woman who is exposed risk is offered no protection by the public authorities of the country concerned, which is thus tolerating such practices. In December 2001, this jurisprudence was altered, in the sense that the Committee for Refugee Applications twice granted refugee status, not to the victims but to parents who, having refused to allow their daughter to be circumcised, suffered intimidation and violence without being able to obtain protection from their country’s authorities, either for lack of a constituted authority (Somalia) or because the complaint was not followed up (Mali).

Dealing with violence inflicted on women is a governmental priority, and major developments have occurred in this area in the past two years. The objective has been to find out more about this form of violence and adapt the authorities’ actions accordingly, and to introduce a comprehensive governmental action plan that meets the victims’ needs.

1. Finding out more about the actual situation through the first scientific national survey on violence towards women

After an initial pilot phase, this survey was conducted among some 7,000 women aged from 20 to 59 in metropolitan France, between March and July 2000. Recognized by the National Statistical Information Council, this was a telephone survey which, for the first time, gave women the opportunity to talk about assaults they had suffered.

The survey showed that in the previous twelve months almost one woman in ten among those questioned had been subjected to verbal, psychological, physical or sexual violence by their partner or ex-partner; extrapolated to the national level, this would mean that 1,350,000 women had experienced such a situation. Two levels of violence may be distinguished:

– the serious level, covering women who have reported either repeated psychological or verbal violence or a physical or sexual assault. This concerns almost 7 per cent of couples;

– the very serious level, involving a combination of most types of violent attack, frequently administered. This concerns almost 3 per cent of women living with a partner.

With regard to sexual assault, the survey data are also very worrying — during the previous twelve months, 0.5 per cent of women questioned had reported having experienced rape or attempted rape. Taking rape alone, the figure was 0.3 per cent. By extrapolation, this would mean that 48 000 women in the 20-59 age group had been raped in a single year.

As to sexual assault suffered over a lifetime, the figure is 11 per cent, the majority committed by men known to the victims.

With regard to violence in the workplace, it emerged that balanced gender representation at work is conducive to avoiding violence, but overrepresentation of men increases the risk. In the previous twelve months, psychological intimidation had been reported by 17 per cent of women, verbal intimidation by 8.5 per cent, physical assault by 0.6 per cent, and destruction of jobs and equipment by 2.2 per cent. Assault (touching, attempted rape and rape) and sexual harassment (advances, petting, exhibitionism, etc.) had been reported by almost 2 per cent of the women.

Finally, in the public arena (the street, large stores, public transport, restaurants, etc.), the main problems women had endured were insults, exhibitionism, sexual importuning and being followed. One woman in five had been subjected to at least one of these during the year.

The frequency of assaults decreases steeply with age, but increases with the size of the town. For women of African origin, the rate of verbal assaults and insults was three times higher. In public, the risk run by women is not so much a question of direct assaults on their bodies — brutal attacks concern 1.7 per cent of women per year — as an accumulation of minor forms of harassment that demonstrate the sexualized nature of the public arena and the hold that men have on it.

In the face of these events, women are far from resigned — 80.9 per cent of female victims of conjugal violence attempt to establish a dialogue with their partner, and in 40 per cent of cases they retaliate and struggle. The same attitude is shown in the public scenarios where they are confronted with violence.

At the initiative of the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training, the government set up a three-year action plan in 2001. The government demonstrated its political intent by holding a national conference on violence towards women.

The main aims of this event, held on 25 January 2001 at the Sorbonne under the chairmanship of the Minister of State, were to identify the range of forms of violence and give greater prominence to the work being done in partnership by the main institutions and associations concerned with such matters. The conference brought together 500 representatives of these bodies, ranging from workers in the field to networks of associations active in the area of violence against women, institutions, elected representatives and experts.

Most forms of violence against women, whether physical, sexual, verbal, psychological or economic, were discussed. Round-table discussions, which yielded useful exchanges of experience, were held on three main topics:

The three-year plan was announced during these meetings. Its objective is to improve prevention and victim support, and to strengthen existing partnerships in order to bring the violence out into the open.

This new action plan brings together the Ministry for Employment and Solidarity, the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training, and important public bodies: the ministries of justice, the interior, defence, education and housing. Much of the plan relies on local partnerships formed by the committees against violence towards women currently operating in the départements; the creation of a national coordinating body will give these new momentum.

The national committee against violence towards women will be the State planning body representing the interests of the local partnerships at national level. Its secretariat will be drawn from the office of the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training. The new body will have the following responsibilities:

– organizing and planning, with the organizations and associations concerned, the State services in the areas of prevention, care and follow-up of women subjected to violence, prostitution, trafficking and training;

– preparing a national three-yearly event focussing on the issue of violence towards women, the next one being in 2004;

Several studies have been made of the procedures used in cases involving conjugal violence. These have led to a report on court practices. A study into the treatment of complaints involving domestic violence is currently being carried out at three court buildings, and the Ministry of Justice is preparing a guide to good practice in response to the spread of innovative approaches adopted by some public prosecutors in receiving and conducting such cases.

Courses of initial and further training relating to the issue of violence towards women are being provided for the police and the gendarmerie.

Trainee police constables, superintendents and lieutenants are receiving initial training. As to further training, throughout 2000 the following courses were provided in the workplace for staff concerned with law and order: domestic and conjugal violence (1,048 trainees and 1,182 officers), the world of the prostitute (1,840 officers), and family and separation law (19 officers). Courses were also held under the auspices of regional recruitment and training offices (DRRF) for 476 police officers.

As to the gendarmerie, the problems relating to female victims of violence are tackled in courses on “receiving victims” given as part of the training for posts of authority and in the general training given to members of the criminal investigation department (advanced training for investigators, investigators in charge, commanders of inquiry squads and units). The in-service training contains elements designed to raise staff awareness of the specific nature of this type of crime and to provide a recap of the legal and regulatory position.

On 25 February 2000, the ministries of education and agriculture signed an agreement to promote equal opportunities for girls and boys and men and women in the education system, with the aim of formulating a prevention policy that tackles behaviour patterns acquired in childhood. The agreement particularly concerns sexist violence.

A report of October 2001 presented 30 proposals on measures to combat sexual violence in schools. The approach is territorial and educational, and calls for a dense network of contacts, the overall aim being to provide better attention and care for young people and to strengthen the training and support available for teaching staff. The report also emphasizes the need to record acts of violence according to gender.

Sexist behaviour is also covered by the work of the National Committee to Combat Violence in Schools, established at the initiative of the minister of education in association with the Secretariat of State for Women’s Rights (see article 10).

2.2. An information campaign to raise awareness of violence inflicted on women

The national conference led to an information campaign that lasted throughout 2001. The campaign will continue in 2002 with a new visual identity and a new slogan, “In the event of violence, break the silence”. The campaign materials include brochures intended for professionals (police officers, gendarmes, social workers, health workers), leaflets, posters and a card giving the various hotline numbers (conjugal violence, rape, sexual harassment at work) available to the intended public. These tools are essential for helping the various partners learn how to support and care for women who have suffered violence, and for informing women about their rights.

A joint Circular from the Ministry of Housing and the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training, dated 8 March 2000, has been sent to the chief administrative officers of départements to ensure that they attach urgent priority to the specific needs of women in serious difficulty (cases of violence or single-parent families) in their planning of housing for the disadvantaged. The major problems for women victims of violence are finding emergency accommodation and, in the longer term, alternative housing. The fear of ending up homeless often prevents women from escaping the violence they are suffering.

An evaluation is being made of the consequences for victims of violence and their children, in terms of care provision, when they have to stay at reception centres not adapted to their needs.

The service for women’s rights and equality is working, under the auspices of the Ministry for Women’s Rights and Solidarity, to develop a “quality-centred” approach at the reception centres for women who have suffered violence. The details for implementing this approach were finalized following discussions held with seven such centres, the relevant regional officers for human rights (Aquitaine and Franche-Comté) and three groups of associations.

This initiative began in November 2001 and will last until the end of May 2002. It will have a number of stages, all monitored by the steering committee, beginning with a survey of the current situation, followed by an audit of the selected organizations, regional meetings and a final review of the work. On the basis of common practical indicators developed during this process, the objective is to draft a reference document defining the procedures that will govern the evaluation, approval and further development of all action taken by the associations responsible for the reception of women victims of violence at the places mentioned. Ultimately, the document could serve as a model for contracts between the State and the associations.

With regard to health, an expert committee answerable to the health minister was formed in August 2000, with the task of evaluating the consequences of violence on women’s health. The minister held a day-long briefing for health professionals on 28 February 2001, emphasizing the need to continue identifying cases of violence and to improve the level of care provided for women who are victims of conjugal violence.

Lastly, on 22 October 2001, the health minister published a Circular on the hospital emergency care provided for victims of violence and anyone in psychological distress. The aim of the Circular was to improve such care provision, mainly by appointing more psychologists, and to emphasize the importance of coordination between the various actors involved.

2.3.2. A central partnership between the public authorities and the associations

The Ministry for Employment and Solidarity (service for women’s rights and equality) is increasing its financial contribution to the national and local associations that offer reception facilities, counselling, guidance and support to women victims of violence. The partnership is based on three-year agreements.

The organizations involved in this partnership are: the National Federation for Women’s Solidarity, which has operated a telephone service since 1992 called “Women’s information service on conjugal violence”; the Women’s Collective against Rape, which has operated the “Women’s rape info line” since 1986; the European Association against Violence towards Women in the Workplace (AVFT) and the Women’s Group for the Abolition of Sexual Mutilation (GAMS). The following funding has been provided:

Funding has also been provided for the local facilities offering reception, counselling, guidance and support for women victims of sexual or conjugal violence, of which there are 155 spread throughout France:

The integration or reintegration of women victims of violence is a highly important aspect of their passage to independence. Once living apart from their partners, they often have to deal with work- or money-related problems that can eliminate or hamper their freedom of choice.

Accordingly, protocols have been signed between the State and local authorities with the aim of taking exploratory initiatives concerning access to employment by women victims of violence. The aim is to pinpoint the specific problems these women encounter in starting or restarting work, and to provide them with information and practical help. A further objective is to produce proposals on measures that could be applied on a wider basis.

The chief administrative officers of the départements concerned signed draft agreements with the Sénart new towns association on 12 September 2001, the council of Finistère Département on 26 October 2001, and with the city of Nantes on 30 October. These protocols have been applied in a series of initiatives taken by partnerships involving associations and elected officials (mayors and the chairmen of councils at the head of the départements).

III. New measures that enhance and strengthen victims’ rights: victims’ reception and care

Act No. 2000-516 of 15 June 2000, which strengthens the protection of the presumption of innocence and victims’ rights, contains a number of provisions relating to improvements in information, reception and care. Even in cases outside their territorial jurisdiction, the courts must now receive victims’ complaints and transmit them to the competent authority; they must inform the victims about their entitlement to compensation and about the victim support bodies available; they must advise victims of their right to take independent action for damages; if a victim does so, they must inform that person every six months on the progress of the case. The reception and interviewing processes at police stations and gendarme posts have also been made a priority; pamphlets have been produced and distributed with a view to raising awareness within these services. Significant progress has been made in recent years on the reception issue.

In this regard, a number of measures have been taken: officers have been specially trained to interview people who turn up needing to discuss intimate family matters; most police and gendarme buildings have a separate room, perhaps an office, where victims can be seen in private; over 500 law enforcement buildings are equipped with a software program called “PROXIMA” (Proximité, Information, Multi-assistance, Accueil) for use in receiving members of the public. Its files, updated at national and local level, relate to women victims and contain the contact details of support organizations, reception facilities and associations.

Progress has also been made with respect to the protection of victims and of witnesses who report violent acts. This is a key factor in encouraging women to talk, file a complaint or leave the domestic home, as it helps to prevent feelings of guilt and fear of reprisals on the victim’s part.

Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, which was strengthened in this area by the Act of 15 November 2001 concerning everyday security, both victim and witnesses may give the address of the police station or gendarme post as their place of residence. This new entitlement to absolute secrecy can only be overturned by decision of a judge and under conditions strictly defined in articles 706-757 et seq. of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Likewise, witnesses’ statements can be taken without their name appearing in the official report. In addition, if a person who is being questioned demands to confront a witness, the interview will take place via a remote technical link, so that the witness’s voice is rendered unidentifiable.

During the past three years, innovative steps have been taken to encourage women to participate more widely in the social and cooperative economy. An initiative of the State Secretariat for the Cooperative Economy, this new approach has successfully mobilized local associations and institutions.

I. Actions taken to encourage initiatives by and for women that foster their economic advancement

From February to June 2001, regional consultations on the social and cooperative economy were held in every region of France; over 4,000 people took part. A national steering committee and its regional counterparts were asked to respect the principle of equality in order to encourage female participation in the discussions. In response to an appeal made in 2000 for “dynamic and solidarity-based” projects, women contributed 28 per cent of all projects submitted, and received 33 per cent of all project funding. The 2001 appeal resulted in 33 per cent of the overall funds being allotted for projects that encouraged initiatives taken by women for women.

In addition, a prize to reward initiatives taken by women for women was inaugurated on 7 March 2001.

A number of specific actions were taken in 2001 in the framework of the policy to expand women’s sport.

The results of a national survey carried out by the Ministry for Youth and Sport on the French people’s participation in sports were published in April 2001; systematic emphasis was placed on women’s participation. A striking finding was that, in a sample of 6,526 people aged between 15 and 75.43 per cent of the women engaged in physical or sporting activity at least once a week.

Female participation in sport is increasing significantly (48 per cent in 2000, 32.5 per cent in 1968, 9 per cent in 1968). In 2000, one third of sports club membership cards were issued to women, and they are becoming more and more involved in high-level competition (38 per cent participation rate at the 2000 Olympic Games, compared with 29 per cent in 1992 and 9.5 per cent in 1948). Women’s and men’s sports are different, and there is still little direct contact between them. Growing numbers of women are attracted to disciplines that place emphasis on artistic performance, such as rhythmic gymnastics, dance and swimming.

The least feminized sports are those involving teams or individual confrontation, motor sport, shooting and hunting.

Female participation in sport’s senior technical or administrative posts is still rare. In 2000, women filled only 12 per cent of the managerial posts in sports federations.

Under Act No. 2000-627 of 6 July 2000 amending the Act of 16 July 1984 concerning the organization and promotion of physical activities, and the implementing regulations that will be issued subsequently, certain legislative and regulatory provisions have been made in this regard.

On the one hand, the intention is to make the granting of State approval for sporting organizations (necessary in order to obtain funding) conditional on compliance with the statutory provisions which, inter alia, require that men and women should have equal access to their governing bodies (article 8). In addition, the Ministry for Youth and Sport will grant approval to sports federations on the basis of a public service requirement that their staff regulations must contain provisions favouring universal access to physical and sporting activities (Article 16 (III) (4)).

In the context of the target agreements concluded annually between the Ministry for Youth and Sport and the sports federations, the specific policy on “Women and Sport” introduced in 1999 at an early stage of the familiarisation process has been discontinued, in the face of demands for a more comprehensive incorporation of the female dimension into all federation activities. The objectives which have been assigned to the sporting movement are to continue proposing initiatives designed to promote female participation in all sports, ensuring the equal flow of resources into male and female competitions, and encouraging women to take apply for posts of responsibility in sport’s governing bodies.

As a means of promoting access by all women to all types of sport, the network of male and female counterparts in the regions and départements has followed up on these initiatives by taking actions geared to promotion, integration, training and communication. Local branches of state bodies have reserved part of the funding they receive from the National Sports Development Fund (FNDS) to carry out actions in the interests of women’s sport. In order to make better use of the funds allocated to women’s sporting activities in the framework of the FNDS, it has been suggested that an additional category headed “Women’s sport” should be introduced, so as to produce a clearer picture of the regional funding allocated to each local office.

At its meeting on 21 January 2000, the National Committee for High-level Sport, out of concern for the equality aspect, decided to do away with the distinctions existing between female and male practice within the same discipline. In 2001, every federation was examined individually. Each then had to reapply for its “high-level” designation for a discipline, whether practised by men and/or by women.

Great progress has also been made in the context of media coverage for women’s sport; prizes are awarded for reporting or articles on women’s sport and to encourage women sports journalists.

Lastly, part of the “Fernand Sastre” fund, which redistributes profits from football’s World Cup, is explicitly earmarked for the development of women’s football.

Culture is an area of community life in which changes in sexual identity are important. It is notable that most male and female cultural activities are tending to merge.

According to the latest survey on French cultural practices carried out in 1997 by the Ministry of Culture, the changing trend identified by the previous survey has persisted: the French continue to acquire audio-visual equipment and products and are spending more time on them. No differences were made between the sexes, although sport was generally preferred by men and television serials by women.

The number of books read continued to decline, and reading was a less frequent activity than in the early 1970s. Aside from this general trend, women seemed more inclined to read: in 1997, 36 per cent of them read at least one book per month, compared with 30 per cent of men, They were also more likely to read a magazine regularly (86 per cent of women, 82 per cent of men). By contrast, the situation was reversed when it came to daily newspapers (40 per cent of men compared with 33 per cent).

Men’s and women’s cultural interests have also shown a tendency to merge when it comes to activities outside the home which were previously dominated by men (cinema, museums, associations, playing music in a group), although differences still continue. However, it is still more common for men to go out in the evening at least once per month (72 per cent and 59 per cent respectively).

The General Principles Act on Agriculture of 9 July 1999 offers spouses who do not wish to be joint traders or partners a new status that is not simply status by default, as is currently the case with “spouse participating in work”. The new status of collaborating spouse will gradually replace the current one, which will be abolished. A spouse who opts for “collaborator” status may acquire the rights to a pro rata pension, as well as a fixed pension. Since summer 2000, three quarters of the spouses who contribute to the work of the farm have opted for the new status. The status of joint trader or company partner has been strengthened by the 2001 Finance Act, which removes the upper limit that previously applied. Now, spouses who are joint traders or company partners will be treated, for the purposes of pension contributions and pro rata points, as favourably as if they worked in an individual capacity.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing is developing a programme called “Women, training and employment in the countryside: integrating equal opportunities”. The programme, which is co-funded by the European Social Fund, receives the amount of 274,408.2 Euros annually, making a total of 1.9 million Euros for the period 2000-2006 (One million Euros from the ministry and 0.9 million from the Fund). The aim of the whole programme is to mobilize the relevant institutions to take steps towards achieving genuine sexual equality by bringing influence to bear in the areas of guidance, information, representation and professionalization.

The measures taken particularly concern women working in agricultural production as farmers, farmers’ spouses and heads of enterprises. Their aims are to provide better information on rights and status, encourage the adoption of an approach based on gender equality to all matters relating to the rural environment, and to promote the formation of employer groups, job creation and job retention.

Specific measures are also being taken in respect of training, employment and development. The first stage focuses on making girls more aware of the possibilities offered by agricultural colleges, training instructors in the gender-based approach, and identifying the factors that hinder women’s employment in the rural environment, fishing and fish farming.

The following draft outline programme for the 2000-2001 period was published in a Circular submitted to the national steering committee on 19 June 2001:

– enhanced use of statistics (particularly in in-house and vocational training);

– research into the situation of women in certain industries, and widening of the range of options available to them at three levels of training: initial, advanced and in-house;

– evaluation of the skills and training requirements of salaried and non-salaried women in the rural environment;

– research into the factors hampering women’s employment in the rural environment, and the documentation and dissemination of good practice.

– provision of information on rights and status, mainly through the distribution of a guidebook on “spouses of self-employed workers”;

– creation of a course on “gender and territory” for local decision-makers;

– encouragement and distribution of examples of job creation in the rural environment.

Equality before the law is a constitutional principle manifested in every part of French society (see previous reports).

For two years, the Government has been engaged in a radical rethink of family law. The changes occurring in French society in respect of marriage, family realignments and generational coexistence must find their reflection in the rule of law. The reform basically concerns acknowledgement of the family as a vital structural link in the social fabric. This notion is supported by several reports and studies the Government has commissioned from researchers, jurists and sociologists. The legislative reform was begun in 2001 in respect of the following four categories: family name, the rights of surviving spouses, parental authority and divorce. A draft reform dealing with lawful descent will also be addressed.

Act No. 2002-304 concerning family names was adopted on 4 March 2002. Intended as a contribution to the current debate on equality, its objective is to enable every child legally to take the name of his or her father and/or his or her mother.

The principle of passing on the father’s name dates back to feudal custom relating to the privileges of primogeniture and masculinity. However, this system’s emphasis on the father’s predominance is at odds with the recent changes that have occurred in our society. Many women now wish to free themselves from the custom of using their spouse’s surname, preferring to use the surname given to them at birth. Today, owing to the demand for equality in relationships and the exercise of joint parental responsibilities, it is necessary to revise the rules under which a surname is passed down to children.

The adoption of this new legislation decrees the principle of choice: parents may now choose their child’s surname in a written statement submitted to the registrar. The surname may be the father’s or the mother’s, or a combination of the two, done in the order they choose, up to a limit of one name each. The surname given to the couple’s first child must also be given to all the other children born to them. However, if the parents do not so choose or if they disagree, the children will automatically take the father’s surname.

This change has the advantage of eliminating the stigma previously suffered by children born out of wedlock as the only ones to bear their mother’s surname.

On 3 December 2001, Act No. 2001-1135 was adopted. It concerns the rights of the surviving spouse and of children born of adultery, and updates various provisions of inheritance law, bringing improvements to the inheritance rights of the surviving spouse. In particular, it addresses the situation of women, whose life expectancy is several years longer than that of men; they represent 80 per cent of surviving spouses and the length of their widowhood is increasing. Firstly, the Act grants the surviving spouse privileged rights over his or her house: for a year, the surviving partner may remain free of cost in the dwelling that was his or her main residence on the day of the partner’s death, and the period may be extended until his or her own death if he or she so wishes, thanks to the granting of the lifetime right to live in and use the family home and the furniture it contains. Secondly, the Act provides that, unless the deceased’s will stipulates otherwise, the spouse must inherit as life interest a part of the estate, regardless of the family configuration on the day of death, with the qualification that if the survivor inherits concurrently with the children born of the union with the deceased, he or she may opt for life interest over the entire estate. Lastly, if the spouse leaves behind only distant relatives, one quarter of the estate must go to the surviving spouse.

Act No. 2002-305 concerning parental authority was adopted on 4 March 2002. The Act sets out to apply a concept of co-parenting based on the three principles of equality between parents, equality between children and the child’s right to his or her two parents. The parents’ matrimonial situation must not have repercussions on the manner in which parental authority is exercised.

Certain provisions are intended to safeguard and stabilize the parental relationship; they establish a climate of commitment and responsibility characterized mainly by the encouragement of and a serious approach to verification, the standardization of attempts to establish paternity and maternity, and by the imposition of restrictions on cases and timeframes relating to objections concerning filiation. Equal responsibility between the two parents with respect to their children has been established, and the joint exercise of parental authority is now generally applicable, whatever the marital situation of the parents, from the moment the child’s lawful descent is established in the year following the birth. The Act also makes it possible for a child to live alternately with each parent, following their separation, if that is in the child’s interest. Likewise, the Act affirms the principle that parents, especially after separation, may conclude agreements to organize their children’s lives. In this regard, the role of the family mediator is acknowledged.

1. The Divorce Reform Bill was adopted on first reading by the National Assembly on 10 October 2001, but the adoption process could not be completed by the end of the legislature. Its purpose is to recognize the range of family situations now in existence while simplifying the divorce procedure.

This bill extends the scope of the measures that may be taken on the basis of article 220-1 of the Civil Code, which allows the family judge to intervene before the start of divorce proceedings if one member of the couple is placing the family in peril through a serious failure of responsibility. Now, over and above the measures relating to spousal assets, the judge can take steps to organize the family’s life. This might take the form of ordering the spouses to live separately, excluding a violent spouse from the family home or ruling on the arrangements under which parental authority is to be exercised. The bill’s provisions are also designed to help women victims of domestic violence obtain protection without losing their rights during divorce proceedings. This is specific treatment reserved for situations of conjugal violence, whose seriousness is thus being recognized in both symbolic and monetary terms.

The bill would also reduce the many types of divorce proceedings to just two: divorce by mutual consent and divorce on grounds of irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. In both cases, divorce is now no more than the formal acknowledgement of marital breakdown. The only factor conditioning a choice of one method rather than the other is the couple’s capacity to agree quickly on the best ways to put an end to their relationship. This is a new approach for France, where for years divorce has been governed by the notion of fault.

On this point, the Senate has adopted the amendments to the procedure for divorce by mutual consent which were introduced by the National Assembly. Thus, a divorce can be granted after a single hearing, except in the event of the judge’s refusal to approve the agreement. The case would then be referred for a second hearing on condition that a new agreement was submitted within a maximum of six months. The judge’s control is maintained in respect of freedom of consent and over the safety of the children and the couple.

Nevertheless, important differences of opinion still divide the two assemblies on the issue of divorce on grounds of fault.

Moreover, the planned measures establish a role for mediation, which becomes a tool for calming family conflicts that would also help facilitate acceptance of the prescribed legal solution in the context of the post-divorce settlement.

2. Act No. 2000-596 concerning pecuniary provision on divorce provides that a contribution made by one spouse for the other’s benefit, as a means of compensating for a disparity in their respective living conditions following their divorce, must take the form of a capital sum, payable if necessary in instalments over a maximum of 8 years. In exceptional circumstances relating to the entitled party’s age or state of health, the payment could take the form of a life annuity.

The Act also contains provisions to enable the revision of periodic payments granted to a spouse after divorce, in the event of a major change in the parties’ situation. The payments may only be reduced (never increased) or converted into capital.

An advance bill on lawful descent is due to be submitted to the council of the National Assembly during the next legislature. The draft text fully enshrines the principle of equality of relationships laid down since the Act of 3 January 1972, particularly in its abolition of the notions of legitimate and natural descent which form the bedrock of current legislation on this matter. The right of descent will now be reorganized into two parts relating to maternity and paternity. Concerning the first, the bill provides that maternal descent will be established by entering the mother’s name in the birth certificate; an unmarried mother will no longer have to deal with the problem of acknowledgement. The rule of mater semper certa est is also officially established. Lastly, judicial proceedings relating to settlements and disputes concerning relationship by descent will be standardized and made simpler through the introduction of joint time-limits and restrictions on the number of people allowed to bring an action.

– Budgetary annex to the 2001 Finance Act, showing the funds allocated for actions taken to promote women’s rights (“yellow budget paper”);

– Circular of 2 February 2001 issued by the Interior Minister, the Minister for Employment and Solidarity and the Minister of State for Women’s Rights and Vocational Training, concerning the duties of regional officers and project leaders in départements in relation to women’s rights and equality, and also the functioning of the network of local offices for women’s rights and equality;

– Act No. 2000-493 of 6 June 2000 intended to facilitate equal access by men and women to electoral mandates and elective posts;

– Decision of 20 December 2000 of the Economic and Social Council concerning women’s position in economic and social bodies and the dialogue between government, employers and the trades unions;

– Act No. 2001-397 of 9 May 2001 concerning professional equality between men and women;

– Prime Minister’s Circular of 6 March 2000 concerning the preparation of multiyear plans on improving women’s access to senior managerial positions in the civil service;

– Circular of the Civil service Minister dated 5 December 2000 concerning the quantitative and qualitative information requested by the Directorate-General for public services and the civil service for the purpose of finding out more about men’s and women’s respective situations;

– Act No. 2001-1 of 3 January 2001 authorizing the Government to translate into national legislation, through ordinances, certain Community Directives, including Directive 92/85 of 19 October 1992;

– Advertising Board of Investigation recommendation concerning “Image of human dignity”, dated 16 October 2001;

– Act No. 2002-93 of 22 January 2002 on access to origins of adopted persons and wards of State;

– Prime Minister’s Circular of 8 March 2000 concerning amendments to the State statistical machinery intended to improve understanding of women’s and men’s respective situations;

– Inter-ministerial agreement of 25 February 2000 on the promotion of equal opportunities among girls and boys and men and women in the education sector;

– Decree of the Minister of Education of 19 October 2000 establishing the National Committee to Combat Violence in Schools;

– Act No. 2001-1066 of 16 November 2001 concerning measures to combat discrimination;

– Act No. 2001-1246 of 21 December 2001 on social security funding for 2002 establishing paid paternity leave (art. 55);

– Circular of 8 March 2000 concerning access to housing by women in serious difficulty;

– Act No. 2000-627 of 6 July 2000 amending Act No. 84-610 on the organization and promotion of physical and sporting activities (art. 8 and art 16. para. 3);

– General Principles Act on Agriculture No. 99-574 of 9 July 1999 establishing the status of collaborating farmer’s spouse;

– Act No. 2001-1135 of 3 December 2001 on the rights of the surviving spouse and of children born of adultery, and modernizing certain provisions of inheritance law;

– Ordinance No. 2001-173 of 22 February 2001 relating to the adaptation of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 concerning the implementation of measures to promote enhanced security and safety in the workplace for pregnant, newly delivered or breastfeeding workers, and Ordinance No. 2001-173 of 22 February 2001 and the relevant report by the President of the Republic.

^[1] Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 and Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000.

^[2] According to this article, “any discrimination between natural persons, based on their origin, sex, family situation, state of health, disability, customs, ethnic, political opinions; union activities, affiliation or non-affiliation, whether actual or supposed, to a certain ethnic group, nation, race or religion”.

^[3] Immigrant population: all people born abroad, whether of foreign nationality or having acquired French nationality.

^[4] This Act is described in more detail in the discussion of Article 16 of the Convention.

^[5] Les enseignants-chercheurs à l’université: la place des femmes. March 2000. Huguette Delavault, Claudine Hermann and Noria Boukhobza, with a contribution by F. Cyrot-Lackmann. Les femmes dans les filières de l’enseignement supérieur. October 2000. Laurence Broze, Huguette Delavault and Julianne Unterberger.

^[6] Enquête sur l’emploi de mars 2001, INSEE Première, June 2001, and L’évolution récente des scolarités et de l’insertion professionalle des jeunes (1998-2000), Premières informations Premières Synthèses, June 2001.

^[7] Les facteurs de recours aux contrats temporaires, Premières Informations Premières Synthèses, June 2000.

Town population	Percentage of women elected as town councillors

3,500-9,000	47.4
9,000-30,000	47.3
Over 30,000	48
All towns over 3,500	47.5

Town population	Percentage of women elected as mayors

3,500-9,000	6.1
9,000-30,000	7.2
Over 30,000	8.6
All towns over 3,500	6.6

Year	Percentage of women at university

1980-1981	49.7
1990-1991	54
1997-1998	56
2000-2001	55

Cycle	Percentage of women

First cycle	55.6
Second cycle	56.9
Third cycle	50.2

Monthly wage (in francs)	1998	1999

Men	14 970	15 170
Women	11 940	12 160
Disparity	25.4 per cent	24.8 per cent

1999	759 501 Euros
2000	859 355 Euros
2001	995 797 Euros
2002	1 million Euros (forecast)

1999	939 232 Euros
2000	914 694 Euros
2001	995 797 Euros
2002	1 800 000 Euros (forecast)

United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women - State Party Reports

France - Fifth periodic reports of States parties [2002] UNCEDAWSPR 16; CEDAW/C/FRA/5 (26 September 2002)