A French Presidential Candidate Speaks on behalf of Women

Francois Hollande, the leading candidate in next week’s French Socialist Party primary to choose their candidate for president, held public meetings today with many different interest groups favorable or leaning toward to his candidacy.

After the meeting, Hollande announced that he was thinking of forming a cabinet-level minister of state for women’s rights, reporting directly to the prime minister. The new minister would be responsible for a lateral cut through many women’s issues, from housing and lack of jobs to workplace inequality and violence directed at women.

Before you drift off to sleep, saying ho-hum didn’t we do that a quarter of a century ago - consider this.

France has no central ministry-level women’s affairs office. But, France does have a high incidence of violence against women, a lack of affordable housing for single mothers and working women with modest salaries, and no visible presidential support for women’s rights except for the women appointed to ministerial level posts. President Sarkozy has done a lot in this regard, but the private issues have not been addressed by him or most others in government, and are left to special interest groups.

And, France has an abysmal record when it comes to workplace harassment of women and equal treatment vis-à-vis salaries and climbing the ladder to real success.

I need only say, “Dominique Strauss-Kahn” and you will understand. And, his attitude, while an extreme example, is not uncommon. At least one other senior French public figure at the state level was recently charged with harassment and seeking sexual favors in his private office.

I’m not saying here that we need a full-out war on sexual discrimination. Indeed, the world has come a very long way.

But, France, perhaps simply because she is France with all her richness of sensuality in dress, style, food and sexual mores, has lagged behind. Monsieur Hollande has done French women a great service to mention their problems and give them a fighting chance of changing the sexual equation in France.