[women-rights] CEDAW 29th Session: OMCT expresses its concern regarding violence against women in France

PRESS RELEASE
Geneva, 3 July 2003

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women will 
today begin its examination of the implementation of the Convention on the 
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in France. In its 
alternative country report entitled "Violence against Women in France", 
which has been submitted to the Committee, the World Organisation Against 
Torture (OMCT) expresses its grave concern at reports of torture of women 
and widespread violence against women in the private and community spheres.

Although France has enacted comprehensive legislation concerning the 
elimination of violence against women and promotion of equality of women, 
violence and discrimination against women persist in France. In particular, 
statistics indicate that 1 in 10 women in France are victims of domestic 
violence and as many as six women die every month as a result of violence 
perpetrated against them by their husband, boyfriend or partner. It has 
also been noted that these statistics likely underestimate the prevalence 
of this form of violence as many women victims of domestic violence are 
unlikely to report the crime.

The OMCT report pays particular attention to domestic violence in immigrant 
communities as immigrant victims of this form of violence face certain 
obstacles in escaping the cycle of violence. While the government does 
provide information on services available to domestic violence victims, 
this literature is oftentimes only written in French and most women 
immigrants do not speak French adequately to be able to make use of the 
information. Furthermore, many women immigrants have residency permits 
which are conditioned upon their continued marriage to their husband, 
meaning that if they leave a violent husband, they risk deportation back to 
their country of origin.

OMCT is also deeply troubled about reports of gang rapes in the suburbs of 
Paris, an area where many marginalized groups live. These rapes are 
commonly called tournantes or pass-arounds and oftentimes they occur in 
public places, like schools or train stations. Young girls are targeted for 
these gang rapes for a variety of reasons, including the fact that she has 
slept with her boyfriend, her presence at a nightclub or her decision to 
wear a miniskirt. Statistics regarding the prevalence of this crime do not 
reflect the magnitude of the problem as many young girls do not report out 
of fear and shame.

The OMCT report further notes that France is a destination country for 
trafficked women, often from West Africa or Eastern Europe. Many 
trafficking victims are forced into prostitution or domestic servitude. 
With respect to forced prostitution, the victim is frequently isolated and 
intimidated through both psychological and physical abuse, and it is 
reported that victims are subjected to gang rapes organized by the pimp as 
a way to "break the woman." With respect to forced domestic labour, the 
victims are often forced to work long hours, seven days a week, and they 
are frequently not allowed to leave the house except to accomplish certain 
specified tasks.

OMCT is also preoccupied with reports of ill treatment of women in 
detention, both in prison and in detention centers for immigrants. Women 
have reported being harassed, physically injured and sexually abused while 
in detention and the conditions of detention centers are reportedly 
sub-standard.

Overall, OMCT's report concludes that while France has a duty under 
international law to act with due diligence to prevent, investigate, 
prosecute and punish all forms of violence against women, irrespective of 
whether this violence is committed by public or private individuals, this 
obligation has not been adequately implemented at the national level.


For copies of the alternative report on violence against women in France or 
for further information on OMCT's programme on Violence against Women 
please contact Lucinda O'Hanlon at + 41 22 809 4939 or loh@omct.org.



---
The "women-rights" mailing list provides information on issues related
to women's human rights. Archives of "women-rights" messages, as well
as instructions on how to (un)subscribe to the list, can be found at:
http://www.hrea.org/lists/women-rights/markup/maillist.php