In Vitry-sur-Seine, a rundown suburb of Paris, in October 2002 a 17-year-old woman Sohane Benziane was set on fire by an 18-year-old boy. His friends were spectators.
Sohane had had the temerity to spurn his amorous advances. Sohane died in hospital from her injuries.
Sohane's elder sister Kahine Benziane explained:
"My sister was burned because she was rebellious. She broke the rule of the cité which is to be submissive.
"For her killer, she represented a thing. It was like he was vandalising a car. Well, today, some more of us are rebelling. We are sick and tired of this oppression."
Kahine and many other young women from Vitry-sur-Seine have joined a movement called "Ni putes, ni soumises" ("Neither whores, nor submissives").
The aim of this campaign is to organise women to protest against poverty and against the sexism that it breeds, especially in rundown city estates, the so-called "cités". Many of the women involved are from immigrant communities, especially of north African origin. Increasingly, these women are victims as well of poverty as of a rising tide of Islamist politics. But the campaign includes women of all backgrounds, and adherents turn their fury on all the religious regimes that are oppressing women and on all male violence against women.
"Ni putes, ni soumises" comes under the umbrella of an organisation called the National Federation of Houses of Friendship (La Fédération Nationale des Maisons des Potes). The Federation was already organising activities aimed at ending the isolation and pressure women were feeling in the cités when Sohane's story became known.
In 2001 they launched "Commissions of the women of the suburbs" in local areas to look into women's conditions. Local assemblies were organised where women could meet and discuss. These culminated in a "National Commission" and a national assembly.
The national assembly produced a "white paper" on women's position, and launched the appeal "Ni putes, ni soumises":
"National appeal by women of the cités:
Neither whores, nor submissives!
We women who live in the city suburbs, women from all backgrounds, believers and non-believers, are launching this appeal for our rights to liberty and emancipation. Oppressed by a society that shuts us up in ghettos where deprivation and exclusion are proliferating. Suffocated by the machismo of the men of the cités who in the name of 'tradition' deny our most fundamental rights.
Gathered together for the first 'Estates general of the women of the suburbs', we hereby affirm our desire to achieve our rights, our liberty, our womanhood. We refuse to be limited to false choices, to submit to the shackles of traditions or to sell our bodies like commodities.
l Enough lessons in morals: our condition is atrocious. The media, the politicians have done nothing for us, or very little.
l Enough of this wretchedness. We've had enough of having no voice, of people treating us with contempt.
l Enough of people justifiying our oppression in the name of the right to difference and of respect for those who force us to bow our heads.
l Enough silence, in public debates, about this violence, this insecurity, this discrimination.
The feminist movement has abandoned the ghettoes. The situation is dire and we have decided to act.
For us, the fight against racism and exclusion and the fight for our liberty and our emancipation are one and the same fight. No one else will free us from this double oppression.
We are speaking out and launching this appeal so that, in every city of France, our sisters, our mothers will hear this cry for liberty and join our fight for a better life in the cités.
In order that we may be heard, circulate our appeal as widely as possible and join the feminist and antiracist initiatives that are at the core of our fight!"
To publicise the appeal, Ni putes... organised a "Women's march against ghettoes and for equality" throughout France, from 1 February 2003 and culminating in Paris on International Women's Day, 8 March.
In the aftermath of that march, they are demanding of public authorities:
"l to produce and distribute a national educational guide teaching respect for others;
l to set up 100 emergency refuges for women in danger, where they can be safe and get help and comfort, with qualified staff (doctors, counsellors, lawyers);
l to provide dedicated services in police stations for women who are victims of violence, as well as protection for them and their families;
l to create immediately 10 outreach projects on the estates, run by women trained in understanding and dealing with conflicts;
l to hold a summer school for women on the estates."
To help the campaign go forward on the ground, they are setting up local "Ni putes, ni soumises" committees.
Of course, none of this is uncontroversial! Some critics say that the campaign fuels Islamophobia, that it discredits north African communities. That is to misunderstand the project: "Ni putes, ni soumises" are simply campaigning for the rights of women! Who would object to that?
"Ni putes..." is at http://www.macite.net/home/ - in French! More details from: Fédération Nationale des Maisons des Potes, 190 Boulevard de Charonne, 75020, Paris, France; email fede@maisonsdespotes.net
* The AWL would like to organise some activities with "Ni putes..." If you would like to help, please write to PO Box 823, London SE15 4NA, or email office@workersliberty.org.
