A few hours before the opening of the 77th Cannes Film Festival, a hundred personalities ask, in an article published in The world, a “comprehensive law” against sexual violence, seven years after the launch of the #MeToo movement. The text signed by actresses, such as Isabelle Adjani, Emmanuelle Béart, Judith Godrèche and Juliette Binoche is accompanied by a petition initiated by The Women’s Foundation, #Metoomedia and the actress Anna Mouglalis who was the guest of RFI this Tuesday at the microphone of Anne Cantener.
RFI: Before talking in more detail about your column, I would like us to listen to another voice that has been moving the lines for several months. It’s that of Judith Godrèche. This is what she said to the audience during the Caesars ceremony three months ago: “ I’ve been talking for some time. I speak, but I cannot hear you. Or barely. Where are you ? What do you say ? “A whisper, half a word, that would already be it”, said Little Red Riding Hood. I know it’s scary, losing grants, losing roles, losing your job. Me too, me too, I’m scared. » This question remains unanswered today. This is one of the points that you raise in your column, Anna Mouglalis, with nearly 150 signatories: who is really listening?
Anna Mouglalis: I think that something is really happening, to the extent that civil society, French public opinion, is listening. And she’s moving. On the other hand, we do not have a concrete response in terms of public policy that could really make things happen. This is why we all came together to ask for this comprehensive law. We talk, we talk… We talked about freeing speech, then we heard that we had to free listening. But what we are asking for is not a confessional. These are actions.
“ Despite the courage of the victims, impunity is growing “. This is what is written in this column. You are asking, as you said, for a comprehensive law against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). What should this law provide?
I am not going to detail the law for you, since we will leave that to lawyers. There are already 80 proposals which are ready, which are being studied. This law is not at all a utopia, it can be applied. I will give you a very simple comparison: in terms of road safety, when we really decided to act, we imposed seat belts, we limited speed, we stopped people from drinking and driving, there is had the creation of a points license. A comprehensive law would really mean seeing the problem of VSS in this way. It’s a problem for everyone: one in three women is a victim in the world, and in France too. These stories don’t just happen to other people. The goal of this gathering was also so that we could come out of isolation from all these affairs, these “ big business » which we have heard about for seven years (we still wonder if #Metoo exists in France, but #Metoo does exist). But these cases are systematically isolated in socio-professional circles… There, coming together means saying, once and for all, that it is systemic, that it is absolutely throughout French society and that it is intolerable. Our lives are not menial, our sufferings are not menial and neither are our struggles. In a country at peace, it is astonishing that there are so many crimes committed against women.
And these crimes are made possible by an entire system, that’s what you also write. This violence is not exceptional. There are also consequences, hence the need for the law. You point out a figure which is really very striking: 94% of complaints for VSS were dismissed in 2022. Why is it so difficult to do justice?
Precisely because there are too many uncertainties in the way an investigating judge will decide, or not, to prosecute. Because sexual violence is generally not committed in front of a witness. For all these reasons, and then, because there is a big confusion: we associate rape with sexuality. Rape is violence. Violence is destructive. It is violence that uses sexuality, but it is a crime and above all violence. In France, we also have this tendency to think that we are at the forefront in terms of law, human rights… So, we don’t ask the question. In Spain, there is phenomenal work that has been accomplished because… Well, the word macho comes from Spain. Spain no longer wonders if it is macho or not, it has recognized it. And she works there…
This is something that is lacking in France, and you talk about it regularly. You are one of those who denounced attacks on the part of Jacques Doillon. You also questioned the behavior of Philippe Garrel, both great French directors. Despite the accusations, they, like others, continue to make films, sometimes even being praised at festivals. We remember, for example, the Caesar awarded to Roman Polanski a few years ago, and the anger that this caused. France is not capable of changing heroes?
France is entirely capable of changing heroes. Now it has to be the whole of France. I tell you, I really have confidence. French justice will resemble French society. French society is mobilizing. In Spain, the big changes were also sparked by the emotion linked to an affair, the affair “ of the pack “, a young woman who was raped by men who described themselves as a pack. At first instance, they had not been prosecuted for rape, even though they had filmed their assault and rape. It turns out that they were sentenced to very little [de peines]. Spanish civil society stood up, indignant. This led to another trial, in which these people were convicted, and a change in the law. This emotion… Often people who read cases are overcome by emotion, but then, very quickly, fall back into denial. It is absolutely necessary for all people to mobilize, together, so that this return to denial is no longer possible.
What is missing now is the political will?
Exactly. Political will. We don’t want any more announcement effects. The fight against violence against women is one of the major causes of Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term. It turns out that, for the moment, we haven’t seen anything. There need to be resources in this law. It must be provided with resources. Resources are needed for grassroots associations. Gender-based and sexual violence is not inevitable. We can really act and put an end to it.