Ni Putes Ni Soumises

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One of 14 posters of modern Mariannes displayed in Paris, 2003; click image for caption translation.

Ni Putes Ni Soumises (Neither Whores Nor Submissive) is a French feminist movement, founded in 2002, which has already secured the recognition of the French press and parliament. It is also the name of a book written by Fadela Amara, one of the leaders of the movement, with the help of Le Monde journalist Sylvia Zappi.

The book cover

1 Goals
2 See also
3 Bibliography
4 External links

[edit] Goals

The movement fights against violence targeting women and it focuses on these areas:

Gang-rapes
Pressure to wear the Hijab
Pressure to drop out of school
Pressure to marry early without being able to choose the husband.

NPNS was set up by a group of young French Muslim women, in response to the violence being directed at them in the suburbs (banlieues) and housing projects (cités) of cities such as Paris, Lyon and Toulouse, where rape and violence towards women are all too common.

The slogan used by the movement is meant both to shock and mobilise. They particularly protest against changes of attitudes toward women due to allegedly rising radical Islam in those French suburbs that are mostly inhabited by immigrants from the Maghreb and other parts of Africa. A particular matter of concern is the treatment of Muslim women, who are pressured into wearing veils, leaving school, and getting married early. Nevertheless, the movement represents women of all faiths and ethnic origins, all of whom may find themselves trapped by poverty and the ghettoisation of the cités.

A translation of the key points of NPNS's national appeal on their official website [1]:

No more moralising: our condition has worsened. The media and politics have done nothing, or very little, for us.
No more wretchedness. We are fed up with people speaking for us, with being treated with contempt.
No more justifications of our oppression in the name of the right to be different and of respect toward those who force us to bow our heads.
No more silence in public debates about violence, poverty and discrimination.

Two high-profile cases gave a particular impetus to NPNS during 2003. The first was that of Samira Bellil who published a book called Dans l'enfer des tournantes ("In Gang Rape Hell") in which she recounts her life as a girl under la loi des cités (the law of the housing projects) where she was gang raped on more than one occasion, the first time at age 13, afraid to speak out, and ultimately seen only as a sexual object, alienated and shunned by her family and some of her friends. The second case was that of 17-year-old Sohanne Benziane who was burned alive by an alleged small-time gang leader.

Both of these were fresh in the minds of the members of Ni Putes Ni Soumises during their march through France, which started in February 2003 and took them to over 20 cities before culminating in a 30,000 strong demonstration in Paris on March 8, 2003. The march was officially called la Marche des femmes des quartiers contre les ghettos et pour l'égalité (The March of Women from the Projects against ghettoes and for equality). Representatives of Ni Putes Ni Soumises were received by French Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin. Their message was also incorporated into the official celebrations of Bastille Day 2003 in Paris, when 14 giant posters each of a modern woman dressed as Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic, were hung on the columns of the Palais Bourbon, the home of the Assemblée nationale (the lower house of the French parliament).

The following five propositions were accepted by the French government:

The publication of an educational guide dealing with respect, to be distributed in the housing projects and schools.
The establishment of safe houses away from the housing projects for girls and women in immediate distress, where they can be safe in relative anonymity.
The creation of six pilot sites where women will be able to have their voices heard.
The organisation of training seminars for women to develop their particular strengths.
Special provisions made in police stations for girls and women who have been the victims of violence.

[edit] See also

Social situation in the French suburbs
Feminism
Islamic feminism
Rape
Islam in France
French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools
Marianne, the symbol of the French republic
2005 civil unrest in France

[edit] Bibliography

BELLIL, Samira: Dans l'enfer des tournantes, Gallimard, 2003, ISBN 2-07-042990-3.
AMARA, Fadela & ZAPPI, Sylvia: Ni putes ni soumises, La Découverte, 2003, ISBN 2-7071-4142-9. Review