Thousands march in France to denounce violence against women

Several thousand people marched in France on Saturday to condemn violence against women on the international day to combat the scrouge.

A woman holds a placard reading "Feminicide everywhere, justice nowhere" during a demonstration on the occasion of the international day for the elimination of violence against women in Paris, on 25 November 2023. © AFP - GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT

Many wearing purple, the colour of women and gender equality, demonstrators wove through the chilly streets of Paris and other cities, carrying signs reading: "One rape every six minutes in France" and "Protect your girls, educate your boys".

"We don't want to count the dead any more," Maelle Lenoir, an official from the All of Us (Nous toutes) activist group, told reporters, urging the government to devote more money to eradicating violence against women.

People take part in a demonstration on the occasion of the international day for the elimination of violence against women in Paris, on 25 November 2023. AFP - GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT

France has recorded 121 women killed so far this year in femicides, the killing of a woman due to her gender, compared with 118 in 2022, according to government data.

"Continued violence against women is not inevitable," President Emmanuel Macron said in a video posted on social media earlier on Saturday.

"We must put an end to it and we will do".

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Leonore Maunoury, 22, said that the justice system needed to be changed to deal effectively with the phenomenon, as she march in the eastern city of Strasbourg.

"Sexual violence is difficult to prove. Many cases are dismissed. The justice system is ill-adapted" to deal with the issue, she said.

Women hold a placard reading "The feminist's anger is growing" during a demonstration on the occasion of the international day for the elimination of violence against women in Paris, on 25 November 2023. AFP - GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT

Gatherings have also been organised in Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Nantes and Montpellier.

In 2022 French police recorded some 244,300 victims of domestic violence, the vast majority women, an increase of 15 percent in one year.

 (AFP)