The change is one of the promises made by President Emmanuel Macron last year and is the first step in a legislative process that will still require a vote in the Senate in order to be passed. 

On Tuesday night, the French National Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of amending Article 34 of France’s constitution to include that “the law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.”

“Tonight, the National Assembly and the government did not miss their rendez-vous with women’s history,” Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said.

Macron’s government is aiming to get the constitutional amendment passed by both chambers of parliament before getting it approved by all legislators in three-fifths majority of a joint session of parliament. 

In October, the French president said that his government would aim to make abortion rights constitutional by the end of the year. “In 2024, the right of women to choose abortion will become irreversible,” he wrote on his socials. 

A 2022 opinion poll from France showed that 89 per cent of respondents wanted abortion rights to be legislated under the constitution.

Earlier this month, an anti-abortion “March for Life” rally took place in Paris, with numbers soaring to 15,000, according to the organisers. 

Abortion in France was decriminalised over half a century ago, however there remains nothing in the constitution that guarantees abortion rights. If the latest constitutional amendments is passed, France will have a vastly superior approach to women’s reproductive rights compared to its surrounding countries: in Poland, pregnancies can only be legally aborted in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s health or life. Even in cases of severe fetal deformities, the Polish constitutional court ruled that women are not allowed to access abortion. 

In 2022, Hungry’s far-right government tightened abortion access, requiring women to “listen to the foetal heartbeat” before they can access the procedure. 

In Italy, a group of anti-abortion organisations have sought to enshrine a similar rule, collecting over 106,000 signatures in December in an attempt to force women to listen to the ‘foetal heartbeat’ before undergoing the procedure.

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Conspiracy theorists have attacked the French first lady on social media after a far-right publication published baseless claims in September that she is transgender. The conspiracy theory claims that she was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux.

In December, the hashtag #JeanMichelTrogneux became one of the most used on Twitter in France.

Trogneux is Brigitte Macron’s maiden name.

The bizarre, transphobic lies have been spread across social media by accounts that oppose President Macron, and include those from the far-right, anti-vaccination groups and those from the QAnon conspiracy.

Some in the French media have traced the origins of the lies to an article written on a far-right website that is known to spread conspiracy theories and false information. The rumour began to gain further traction when it was discussed in a YouTube video shared widely by conspiracy theorists.

Lawyer Jean Ennochi told AFP news agency that Brigitte Macron would be taking legal action against those responsible for spreading the false claims.

“She has decided to initiate proceedings, it is in progress,” Ennochi said.

The claims against Brigitte Macron are not based in any fact. This is also not the first time she has faced attacks on social media. Since her husband came into power, she has dealt with misogynistic attacks often to do with the 24-year age gap between her and Emmanuel.

Brigitte Macron’s legal proceedings come as her husband is due to face an election in 2022. Emmanuel Macron has not yet confirmed he will run for reelection, but he is widely expected to.

Brigitte Macron married Emmanuel Macron in 2007.

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The mandate will see companies reach 30 per cent women as “senior managers and members of management bodies” by 2027, and 40 per cent by 2030. The bill also requires large and medium sized companies to publish annual data on gender gaps in their ranks.

Before it becomes law, the “Rixain-Castaner” bill needs to pass through the French senate before the end of President Emanuel Macron’s term. As well as addressing the gender gap in executive leadership, the bill also addresses other issues that affect women more broadly. This includes ensuring social payments land in women’s bank accounts (not their husbands), prioritising access to day care services for single parents, and a focus on supporting women entrepreneurs.

Elisabeth Moreno, France’s Minister for Gender Equality told Forbes that her dream is “parity everywhere”.

“It’s like the digital revolution, which has become totally transversal. From health care and cyber-security to economics and artificial intelligence, digital is everywhere,” she said. “The same is true for women. Otherwise, these systems remain biased and imbalanced.”

Before entering politics, Moreno spent three decades in the tech sector and has said that the introduction of quotas will help speed up the process of gender equality in the private sector.

“I’ve spent 30 years in the private sector. There are a lot of people who talk, talk, talk about more gender balance. But there is a lot more talk than there is action,” she said.

#EgaliteEco | « Je suis très heureuse d’être ici devant vous pour prendre la parole sur une proposition de loi qui, j’en ai l’intime conviction, rentrera au Panthéon de notre histoire collective. »@RixainMP | @CCastaner pic.twitter.com/hgqJLEiWon

— Élisabeth Moreno (@1ElisaMoreno) May 12, 2021

The “Rixain-Castaner” bill passed through the National Assembly ten years after France’s adoption of the Copé-Zimmermann law in 2011, which imposed a 40 percent minimum gender requirement for companies’ boards. This law has led to a marked increase in the number of women on boards. In 2019, 45 per cent of director seats at the country’s CAC40 Boards were filled by women, up from 10 per cent in 2009.

While this improvement has been seen on boards in France, the number of women in executive leadership has fallen well behind, with the new bill designed to help create a shift.

The summary of the bill states: “It is necessary to take a second step by actively promoting the presence of women in positions of responsibility.”

“The action on the glass ceiling makes it possible to intervene at all levels of the chain of responsibilities of the company by accelerating the careers of all women.”

The move from France follows legislation in Germany, passed in November 2020, that requires publicly-traded companies to have at least one woman in their executive leadership.

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A council of 35 individuals from 23 countries, including Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege called on the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States to confront the laws in their own countries that continue to penalise women on account of their gender. 

The G7 is an international intergovernmental economic organisation of seven of the  largest advanced economies in the world. These countries combine to hold 40% of the world’s wealth, with only 10% of its population. Australia is not part of the cohort, though this year we’ve been given a seat at the table as an observer. This includes a special leaders’ dinner for our PM, Scott Morrison.

Yazidi survivor of genocide and advocate for victims of trafficking, Nadia Murad, and Congolese gynaecologist known for his work in helping women who have survived sexual violence, Denis Mukwege, are among the G7’s Gender equality advisory council. The council consists of 32 women and 3 men from 23 different countries.

In a statement on the council’s website, it says the host of this year’s G7 summit, French President Macron, sought to “surround himself with men and women from around the world who are determined to provide their experience, expertise and determination to support the great global cause of equality between men and women.” 

President Macron is building this initiative on the recommendations instigated during Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s G7 presidency in 2018 under his “Making Gender Inequality History” campaign. 

The aim continues to be this: propose tangible tools and solutions to enhance gender equality worldwide and significantly enhance aid to promote women’s rights and gender equality.

The audience over the weekend included U.S president Donald Trump. He was there, despite his own administration complaining that President Macron’s focus was on “niche issues” such as climate change, gender equality. Trump seems to want the agenda to be firmly planted around issues his has historically been more comfortable addressing, such as global economics and trade.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the head of UN Women, delivered one clear message during her address: “We call upon you to pronounce 2030 as the expiry date of gender inequality.”

                                                       Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

This initiative is part of the “the Biarritz Partnership”, an international, borderless call to arms for all nations to adhere to international agreements concerning women’s rights. The G7 countries are attempting to lead the way in implementing legislation that will guarantee gender equality for their citizens. The council also announced they will set up an accountability framework, but have yet to elaborate on what this looks like or how it will operate.

So what should these leaders do? 

The council took to brainstorming a few ideas and generated a list of ’progressive laws’ for the 7 nations to consider. Examples offered include Denmark’s new laws on cyber-harassment (they also have a female prime minister, Mette Frederiksen), and
Morocco’s institutionalisation of gender equality throughout budget processes.
Iceland’s equal pay laws; last year, they became the first country in the world to make it illegal to pay men more than women. In France, there are streets harassment laws, which criminalise sexist insults, degrading or humiliating comments, or offensive “sexual or sexist” behaviour towards a person in public areas, schools or workplaces.

Also in France, there’s a law that criminalises anti-abortion websites (perhaps something New South Wales needs to consider, judging by what we’ve seen in the last few weeks – An ABC analysis of the top 15 Facebook communities from both sides of the abortion debate found the groups against the bill have 10 times the share of voice and activity of their opponents)

In a Guardian article penned by four of the council members, they said, referring to the dire statistics globally of women’s rights (including that women are overrepresented in vulnerable jobs and are paid on average 23% less than men) – “None of this will happen unless countries properly fund the independent women-focused and women-led organisations that hold legislators to account on their commitments.”

Most country have discriminatory laws that penalise women: look at our own; if you live in New South Wales, it remains that unlawfully procuring an abortion is an offence punishable by imprisonment for up to ten years. And our own politicians are trying to keep it that way.

The Guardian article quote above included the voice of actress Emma Watson, who is part of the council, and continues to advocate for worldwide gender equality. She founded HeForShe initiative and is in her fifth year as a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women.

                                                                    Emma Watson

The G7 was created in the 1970s as an annual gathering of political leaders to discuss politic-centric topics including global security, economy and energy. Of all Country leaders as of 2019, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany is the only woman.

It’s good to see gender equality getting the political attention it deserves. It ought to be a natural law that women are awarded the same respect, dignity and opportunity as men on this planet, regardless of where you live. Alas, this is not the reality you nor I live in. Will the G7’s gender equality advisory council change things? Will new laws be stapled in as solid legislative foundations? How much power does the G7 body have, realistically? Time will tell.

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