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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| March 19, 2005 |
Marseilles – The Situation of Women in Modern France |
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| Marsailles is France’s second largest city, with a population of more than 800,000. |
Marseilles’ Centre d’Information sur les Droits des Femmes (CIDF - Women’s Rights Information Center) was founded in 2000, after the World March of Women was held, increasing public awareness of women’s issues. The center is the product of a collaboration of thirteen groups, called Le Collectif 13 Droits des Femmes, who are working together to better the situation of women in society. Participants in Peace Boat’s 48th cruise had the opportunity to visit Marseilles’ CIDF and speak with Ms. Judith Martin-Razi, a women’s rights activist who works closely with Le Collectif 13 Droits des Femmes, about the struggle for equal rights in France. During their time at the center, they learned about the challenges French women have had to overcome, as well as the great strides they have made over the past one hundred years |
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| Ms. Judith Martin-Razi explains the work of Marseille’s Centre d’Information sur les Droits des Femmes (CIDF - Women’s Rights Information Center). |
Overall, the situation of women in France has been better than that of women in other areas; however, there was still a long period of time when women were dominated by France’s historically patriarchal society and government. Until 1884, French women were considered the property of their husbands (if married) or fathers (if unmarried) and were legally forbidden from holding personal property. After this law was changed, armed with the knowledge that they were no longer “property” but people in their own rights, the women of France continued their fight to gain equal rights and protection under French law. In 1972, France’s Equal Rights Law was passed, and two years later the Ministry of Women’s Rights was established to ensure that women’s rights were protected. |
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| Peace Boat’s visitors to the center were keenly interested in learning about the struggle for equal rights in France. |
According to Ms. Martin-Razi, however, the real situation is quite different from the ideal imagined when the Equal Rights Law was passed. Just one problem some women are still struggling with is the intense discrimination they experience in the workplace; women in some sectors earn up to 70% less than their male counterparts, despite a protective legal framework being in place. One of the aims of the Le Collectif 13 Droits des Femmes, and Marseilles’ CIDF, is to help women deal directly with discriminatory situations through education and legal counseling. The center is also actively involved in reviewing new laws for discriminatory language, which can often subconsciously affect people’s views of gender and gender roles. “We are trying to change the way people subconsciously think about what women should be,” Ms. Martin-Razi explained to Peace Boat’s visitors to the center.
In addition to legal assistance, CIDF provides women with a place where they can go to learn about health care, contraception, and other sensitive issues. While the French government has undertaken contraception promotion campaigns in the past, they have largely been aimed at men. CIDF works to provide women with the tools they need to provide for their own contraception, as well as the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. |
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| France has a long history and rich culture, but its citizens are constantly working to improve their lives and society. |
After learning about CIDF’s activities and beginning to think more critically about women’s rights, participants were eager to learn more about what “normal” French people thought about gender roles and discrimination. Along with Ms. Martin-Razi, they visited a Marseilles shopping center and talked with local people, both men and women, about issues such as contraception, family roles, labor distribution, and their opinions of the way women are regarded in French society. “I feel I am treated equally,” one woman in her forties responded. “I work for the government, and they have laws that say we must be paid the same as men. There is no discrimination like that where I work.”
Tokuhisa Yuko, a tour participant in her early twenties was very impressed by what she learned in Marseilles. “Before joining this tour, I had always taken my rights and freedoms as a woman for granted. I even used to feel uncomfortable when I heard issues relating to gender or women’s rights being discussed. But throughout this tour, listening to Judith’s talks, and talking with women of different generations and backgrounds, I learned that what I take for granted today is something that was earned through long years of unyielding struggle by women all over the world. This experience will have an influence on the way I think and make decisions about different stages of my life as a woman and, more importantly, as a human being.” |
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