In Toulouse, a round against “overwhelmed justice” in the face of macho violence
“Overwhelmed justice, women are dying”, “Ras-le-rape”, “Justice of the self, patriarchal above all”, “Françoise, 42, slaughtered by her companion”: placards are placed on the forecourt, taped to a bus shelter, brandished at arm’s length.
At noon, the sirens of civil protection hold back. A symbol-laden signal. La Ronde begins. As the first Wednesday of the month, it brings together women of all ages, feminists from the first hour or the new generation, but also survivors. “My ex-husband beat me several times, even when I was pregnant”says Enza, 47, mother of two daughters aged six and eight, whom she evokes with tenderness.
The sound system spits “Resist! by France Gall, dancing women, raise their fists, chant: “We are strong, we are proud and feminist and radical and angry! »
Legs black from blows
Enza, who prefers to keep her name silent, continues her chilling story: “The little one used big slaps when she prevented her from sleeping”. “It was psychological too. He kept telling the girls that they sucked. »
Each year, more than 200,000 women experience domestic violence, 102 died in 2020 according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Before it was too late, Enza was able to say “stop”. The father of her children had her “beaten on the legs until they were black”, but because so “it shows less than on the head”. It was in November 2018. Paralyzed by fear, she did not file a complaint until three months later. The traces of the blows have disappeared. “There were no sequels […] He was in custody and that’s it.”she laments.
Despite the wind, the threatening rain, the Round of angry women completes twenty this Wednesday in March. It runs for an hour, for the 25and times.
The idea arose in 2019 from the fight of Carole Elicha Giraud, now 57 years old and then on hunger strike in front of this same palace to announce a “botched investigation” after the death, eleven years earlier, of his daughter Sarah. “I am here in his memory. “My little one had just turned 19 […] she had traces of 40 blows before death and 20 after. » companion son “made believe that she had committed suicide with pills […] He just got away with an electronic bracelet”she lets go.
Rather fight than be beaten –
At her side, Françoise Courtiade, 72, explains how the Midi-Pyrénées Collective for Women’s Rights (CMPDF) supported Carole and launched this recurring action to “a better price in account of violence against women by the judicial system”.
If representatives of La Ronde have been received twice, at their request, by members of the prosecution, they regret “magistrates locked in their ivory tower”. “No one ever bothered to find out what we were doing there! »indignant Claudine Salvaire, 72, president of the collective.
Interior Minister Gérard Darmanin noted in January a 33% increase in sexual violence records last year, welcoming a “best price in account of this subject by law enforcement”. But for the activists of Dare to feminism (OLF), such as Estelle Grossias, 27, too many complaints are neglected, “only 30% are perceived”.