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The RAJA Foundation : an absolute commitment to women's empowerment

Thursday the 20th of October 2022

The RAJA Foundation : an absolute commitment to women's empowerment

Sophie Pouget, General Delegate of the RAJA Foundation, has been dedicated for many years to advocating for women's rights. As the head of this foundation, she campaigns for gender equality and against sexist violence.

Sophie Pouget, you are the General Delegate of the RAJA-Danièle Marcovici Foundation, advocating for women's empowerment. What are the foundation's emblematic actions and supports ?

Sophie Pouget : The RAJA-Danièle Marcovici Foundation works towards the empowerment of women and girls. Established in 2006 by Danièle Kapel-Marcovici, President and CEO of the RAJA Group, the Foundation supports associative projects both in France and worldwide. Our actions focus on four key areas: combating violence against women and girls, promoting education and leadership for girls, supporting women's professional integration and economic rights, and supporting women's environmental initiatives. This has allowed us to partner with dedicated organizations, such as the Maison des Femmes de Saint Denis, which provides comprehensive support to women victims of violence; Rêv’Elles, which helps young girls and enhances their leadership skills; the Primo Lévi Center, which offers devoted support to migrant women victims of violence; and, in a different domain, Le Chemin des Fleurs, which provides women in extreme poverty with the opportunity to train in horticulture...

You have been engaged for several years in defending women's rights, including with UN Women. What is the influence and action capacity of a foundation on gender equality issues ?

We primarily act by co-financing associative projects. Since 2006, we have supported over 600 projects benefiting more than 150,000 women across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe, with a total budget exceeding 13 million euros. This is crucial because funding is one of the main issues raised by feminist associations. While these organizations have significant expertise in gender equality, they lack resources and are underfunded. Few patrons prioritize gender equality. We are part of the roughly forty foundations supported by the Fondation de France dedicated to this cause. With over 900 foundations, this number is insufficient!

We also engage in advocacy, particularly against violence towards women and girls. We work to promote women's actions for the environment as well. The Foundation is part of several coalitions, including the French Coalition of Foundations for Climate, launched in November 2020 by the French Center for Funds and Foundations, which gathers 141 signatories committed to fighting climate change. We are also members of the Feminist Action for Climate Justice Coalition formed during the Generation Equality Forum in 2021 under the aegis of UN Women. These commitments allow us to work alongside various engaged actors. Through discussions with the field associations we fund in France and around the world, we can mobilize, inform, and raise awareness among other actors, including French and European philanthropy and public institutions like the Ministry of Gender Equality, regional governments, etc.

At UNESCO on November 25th [International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women], the Earth University will take place. You will participate in a panel discussion on the theme "Ending Violence Against Women." What solutions can be considered, especially in France ?

Harassment, sexual assault, female genital mutilation... Violence against women and girls takes many forms. To determine the costs of this violence and assess how to best combat it, we need a precise understanding of its scope and nature. Encouraging the sharing of expertise and experience is a major lever for improving the effectiveness of actions on the ground and scaling up lessons learned.

The panel discussion we are organizing aims to foster this type of exchange, featuring associations that are on the front lines, supporting women and performing genuine public service missions. For example, 3919 – the national hotline for women victims of violence – is the result of an agreement between the National Federation of Women's Solidarity and the State.

The experts we have gathered on this subject can attest: the support for women victims of violence must be holistic: listening, psychological follow-up, but also housing, health, employment, and legal support. All these aspects must be considered to enable women to rebuild effectively and sustainably. Training medical and social workers is fundamental to respond appropriately and support these women from care to reintegration. The training and specialization of judges, as well as law enforcement officers, are also crucial. Finally, and most importantly, preventive actions are essential: educating young girls and boys is a solution to changing mentalities and behaviors.

Other countries also provide sources of inspiration. In Spain, since 2004, the law against gender violence includes the creation of specialized courts for sexist assaults and legal aid allowing victims to change their identity and receive greater protection against their aggressors. In Germany, since 2016, the concept of consent is limited to an identifiable expression of the person's will – in other words, what is not a “yes” is a “no.” Why not draw inspiration from this?

According to the feminist collective #NousToutes, the number of femicides continues to rise each year: 102 in 2020; 113 in 2021; 98 since the beginning of 2022 (one death every two days). Despite the mobilization of many associations and media coverage, how do you explain this persistence and dramatic increase in femicides in our country ?

There is a noticeable failure of the measures adopted by public policies. Some laws promote gender equality and the fight against sexist violence but face implementation challenges: for example, since 2018, each high school is supposed to have an Equality Referent to inform and combat violence against women. However, 2 out of 3 high schools do not have one. It is at school that we can counteract gender stereotypes and the violence that sometimes accompanies them. Education plays a crucial role in combating gender-based violence. The figures for sexual violence affecting youth are alarming: 1 in 4 young people reports having had non-consensual sexual encounters. A quarter of 18-24 year-olds believe that a woman enjoys being forced into sex. 1 in 5 young women is a victim of pornographic divulgence. Yet, in practice, few measures are in place: only 3 sexual education classes are provided throughout students' schooling, compared to the 21 sessions required by the Aubry Law. Based on these figures, the High Council for Gender Equality has called for an emergency equality plan in schools for the 2022 school year, urging the Ministry of National Education to prioritize sexual education in schools.

The issue of violence against women is too often seen as an isolated topic: it is necessary to show that it is a cross-cutting issue that affects not only the private sphere but society as a whole, and especially concerns women as much as men, equally.

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