On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, how can we unite and act together to defend gender equality and the rights of women and girls? This was the guiding question of the fourth ministerial conference on Feminist Foreign Policy, which France hosted late last month, convening governments from across the globe, representatives of international organisations, public development banks, as well as civil society, research bodies and philanthropic foundations.
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On this occasion, a coalition of 31 states pledged to support gender equality and build a firewall against the threats targeting women’s rights and girls’ rights, in an international context where the backlash against gender equality is rising. Together with states from five continents, we reaffirmed that feminism is a universal cause because women’s rights are fundamental rights.
Gender equality begins at home. In the past years, we have taken several steps towards this goal. Last year, France enshrined the right to abortion in its constitution to protect it explicitly, and has made contraception free for women under 25. In the civil service, France is introducing a 50 per cent quota for directorial positions. French law also incentivises the private sector to move towards more equality, both in corporate leadership and pay equity.
Since 2019, France has championed a feminist foreign policy, making gender equality and women’s rights a cross-cutting priority of its external action in the fields of development, democratic governance, peace and security, as well as humanitarian action, among others.
When it comes to artificial intelligence, right before the AI Action Summit held in Paris in February, the members of the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse called for recognising the continuity and interrelation between offline and online gender-based violence, as shown by the worrying trend impacting young adults on university campuses.
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The members also urged the digital technology and AI sector to adopt safety-by-design principles throughout the life cycle of AI systems, from design to development and deployment. This comes on the heels of the landmark resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2024 on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls in the digital environment, backed by France and the Netherlands.
