No elected office for convicted persons
Marie-Pierre Rixain
MP (LREM) for Essonne, former president of the delegation for women’s rights and equal opportunities between men and women of the National Assembly
There are several levels of denunciation when it comes to gender-based and sexual violence. Rumours, allegations, the complaint or even the time of investigation… In each case, care must be taken to maintain the presumption of innocence. It does not protect an alleged perpetrator, but each individual, allowing him to defend himself. When justice opens an investigation, it is because it considers that it has elements requiring that the investigations go further.
In this case, a politician may have to resign or be removed from office in order to organize his defense – without calling into question the presumption of innocence –, while respecting the portfolio for which he is responsible. In the context of hypermediatization in which we find ourselves, the behavior of elected officials must be irreproachable. The case of Damien Abad shows us, for example, that he had difficulty exercising his mandate, going there. This had a direct impact on his ministry. It is therefore necessary to succeed in being measured, in placing a cursor so that the ministry is fully exercised. But it is not for me to establish a rule.
Today, speech is free, society is saying “stop” and that’s a good thing. For too long there has been a gray area of what was acceptable and what was not. For my part, I consider that anyone convicted of acts of sexual violence should not be able to claim elective office. From now on, we are moving forward, the victims are socially supported, society is more respectful and is moving in the right direction.
There are instruments in politics to protect oneself, but it is important to insist on prevention, drawing inspiration for example from the initiative of the Ministry of Culture. Each production company manager who requests public funding must follow a two-hour training course, organized by an association fighting against violence at work. We could therefore imagine a module similar to the National Assembly, compulsory for all at each appointment, on sexist and sexual violence. It would be a way to create a real sensitivity on the subject.
It is also important to do prevention within the parties themselves, for example, to socially condemn sexist remarks in public. I hope that with the feminization of political life, sexist and sexual violence will diminish. Appointing women to positions of power shows men that they are their equals and not just hierarchical subordinates.
Collected by Margot Barbarossa
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The political world should be inspired by the world of work
Marilyn Baldeck
General Delegate of the European Association against violence against women at work (AVFT)
Even if we should not idealize what is happening in the world of work, I think that the political world would be well advised to take an example from the way in which companies and administrations manage these problems of sexual violence. In their case, there is no need for a court decision or even the filing of a complaint to start acting. Companies are bound by an obligation to ensure the safety of people confronted with situations of violence or harassment. The labor code and all the case law of the social chamber of the Court of Cassation require an employer to act early, independently of any criminal action. This makes it possible to quickly suspend or dismiss an employee implicated in acts of violence or harassment.
The political world can also draw inspiration from the civil service. Civil servants are bound by a duty of probity, honesty and absence of conflict of interest. It can be estimated that if a minister or an elected official adopts sexist behavior, he enters into a conflict of interest with the implementation of public policies to combat violence against women. In this case, we can estimate that he is not the right person to fulfill his mission. Within the government, we look to see if ministers have committed financial offences… The same should apply to sexist behaviour.
We can then ask ourselves when this duty to set an example should apply. We cannot, in the business world as in politics, dismiss or suspend a person from his functions without some solid elements. When an accusation arises, companies can call on specialized law firms to carry out an internal investigation in a relatively short time. The means are of course not the same as for a criminal investigation. But this makes it possible to hear the various parties concerned or people who may have witnessed the facts. The investigation is then more impartial than if it had been conducted by the company itself. Then, the firm issues an opinion, and it is the management of the company that makes a decision.
In politics, I am not opposed to the fact that internal party cells can act and investigate in such circumstances. But that’s probably not enough. Because in some cases, the victims, who may be militants of this or that party, have sometimes completely lost confidence in the authorities of this party. An additional external investigation is therefore needed.
Collected by Pierre Bienvault
