Thousands march in France, demanding action on violence against women in the country – Firstpost

Thousands of protesters across France braved the cold on Saturday to express their anger over the persistence of violence against women and demand more public action and funding to tackle the problem.

In Paris, crowds of protesters – 50,000 according to organizers, 17,000 according to police – waved signs, chanted, danced and sang as they marched through the capital in a protest organized by the Grève Feministe (Feminist Strike) group of about 60 organizations.

A placard distributed by the feminist group Noustouts (We Are All Women) read, “In France every 2.5 days a man kills a woman.”

“Nine out of 10 victims know their rapist,” read another.

“It’s 2025, is it normal to still count our dead women?”. said Sylvain Gravin, president of the National Federation of Victims of Femicide, whose sister was murdered before the Paris demonstrations began in 2017.

Hundreds of protesters in other cities also gathered in the cold, causing crowds to turn purple – a color associated with feminism.

“We have the right to be loved without abuse,” said Juliette, a 20-year-old student in Lille, northern France.

The organizations behind the protests are demanding the adoption of a comprehensive framework law against violence, as well as a three billion euro budget ($3.5 billion) to implement it.

They are also demanding better education and funding for groups supporting victims of violence.

The number of intimate partner murders of women increased by 11 percent between 2023 and 2024, with 107 women killed by their partners or ex-partners, according to official data published on Thursday by MIPROF, a government body that works to protect women from violence and fight human trafficking.

According to MIPROF, every two minutes a woman is a victim of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault, and every 23 seconds a woman is a victim of sexual harassment, indecent exposure, or sending unwanted sexual material.

The Women’s Foundation rights group estimates that the government should allocate a minimum annual budget of 2.6 billion euros to protect victims of domestic, gender-based and sexual violence in France – equivalent to 0.5 percent of the state budget.