Feminists protested nationwide against the Rassemblement National (RN), a far-right political party in France, on Sunday, ahead of the legislative elections. Wearing purple, the official color of the Feminist movement, 130,000 people gathered in French cities to protest against the potential victory of the RN , which could seriously undermine women’s rights in the country.
Multiple feminist associations and NGOs called for the protest under “Alertes Féministes” (Feminist Alerts) as they considered the possibility of a victory of the RN to be quite real. The call highlighted the far-right party’s “obsession” with subverting the rights and freedoms of an important part of the population, such as women, trans and LGBTQIA+, migrants and racial minorities, among others. They further stated that the RN will readily attack the social movement. Moreover, they stressed that the victory of the RN at the legislative elections would mean the end of certain democratic concepts, notably, the rule of law and other freedoms which, according to their statement, have already been undermined in recent years.
Secretary-General of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) Sophie Binet spoke at the protest, stating that feminists in France are extremely worried about women’s rights, as 30 deputies of the RN voted against the instauration of abortion as a constitutional right. Binet highlighted women’s rights degradation in other countries such as Italy, Hungary, Poland, the US, Russia, and Argentina, when the far-right took power. However, Binet said that she stays hopeful as other candidates, such as the Nouveau Front Populaire, have raised the necessity to eradicate sexual violence against women in their programs as well as the importance of imposing equal pay, urging people to vote for the leftist party.
Protests against the far-right erupted following President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly, activating Article 12 of the constitution, after the RN secured over 30 percent of the vote at the European elections, and thereafter launched new legislative elections planned for June 30 and July 7.
