Minister Aurore Bergé has submitted a framework bill with 53 measures to prevent and punish violence against women and children. This text, long demanded by feminist associations, comes on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It occurs amid rising reports of sexual assaults in Paris's after-school programs.
On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25, Aurore Bergé, the minister delegate for gender equality, announced the submission of a ready framework bill to be scheduled in parliament 'as soon as possible.' This text includes 53 measures to 'better train, better detect, better prevent, and better punish' these violences, extended to children. It was handed to Emmanuel Macron and Sébastien Lecornu.
The minister stresses the need for perpetrators to 'be afraid,' criticizing current protections via statutes of limitations and judicial delays. She wants complaint filing eased and dismissals without prosecution systematically justified, noting many victims emerge 'crushed by judicial treatment.'
This bill addresses an alarming context in Paris, where the juvenile prosecutor's office opened 15 investigations for sexual assaults on children under 5 in 2025, per prosecutor Lisa-Lou Wipf. The City of Paris suspended 16 animators for sexual misconduct this year, out of 30 total suspensions. In mid-November, it announced a fight plan including enhanced animator training and a children's defender role.
Meanwhile, Socialist deputy Céline Thiébault-Martinez submitted an 'integral' bill with 78 articles, backed by over 100 parliamentarians from eight groups, excluding the Rassemblement National and Union des droites pour la République. The result of ten months' work with associations, it aims to 'better prevent, combat, and punish' these violences. Statistics highlight urgency: 277,000 adult women victims of rapes or sexual assaults in 2023, and 1,283 feminicides in 2024.
Emmanuel Grégoire, PS candidate for Paris mayor and deputy, revealed on France Inter that he suffered sexual violence in fifth grade, 40 years ago, in a municipal pool. He calls for a 'total societal and judicial fight' against child criminality, to facilitate gathering children's testimonies, and to immediately suspend suspects.
