Sexism and workplace inequality is rife in most areas of French life, research shows

Sexism is still rife in most areas of French life and women continue to face inequality in the workplace, according to two new indexes released by government agencies for International Women's Day on Tuesday.

La ministre française du Travail, Elisabeth Borne, quitte le conseil des ministres hebdomadaire au palais présidentiel de l'Elysée, à Paris, le 22 décembre 2021. Ludovic MARIN / AFP AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

According to a new report* carried out by the High Council for Equality (HCE), six out of ten French women say they have been the victim of a sexist action or insult in the street or public transport, 46 percent in the workplace and 43 percent in the home while. Some 57 percent said the sexist remarks were disguised as "humour."

The HCE says young women appear to be more often targeted than other age groups and are also more aware of sexism than older generations. For example, 13 percent of women said they had been sexually harassed, a figure which goes up to 20 percent for 18-34 year-olds.

Two out of three French people interviewed said they were in favour of the #MeToo movement. The method of publicly calling out sexist behaviour on social media is considered "necessary" by 52 percent of the respondents. 

#MeToo influence

Of the men interviewed, 26 percent said they feared "coming across as sexist" when approaching a woman, a figure that jumps to 40 percent among 25-34 year-olds. 

To deal with the question of sexism in society, the HCE says first and foremost the focus must be on "impunity for sexual violence and sexism". It also stresses that sexual education and personal development must be taught in school, an initiative that was signed into law in 2021.

When it comes to legally tackling sexism, eight out of ten French people said that the punishments were "insufficient" or "not applied properly", and 53% said they "did not feel adequately informed on the existing laws and punishments to fight sexism".

Equality index creeps forward

Meanwhile, the Labour Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that although some progress had been made on improving equality in the workplace, there is still a long way to go.

"The index is up and running. It's now time to improve it. t's one of the major objectives of the next five year presidential term," she told Les Echos daily newspaper after the launch of the latest statistics from the Professional Equality Index, now in its fourth year.

In 2021, the scores improved slightly, going from 85 to 86 out of 100 for the average score of companies measuring their equality.

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The index takes into account five areas: the pay gap between men and women (40 points), the gap in yearly pay rises (20 points), the gap in promotions (15 points), pay rises occurring after maternity leave (15 points) and the number of women represented among the top salary earners (10 points). 

Since 2019, companies of over 250 employees are legally required to disclose their overall score and companies with 50-250 employees since 2020.

When the score falls below 75, the company has three years in which to improve it. 

16 companies fined

This year, Borne announced that 16 companies with more than 250 employees will be fined up to one percent of their overall salary mass, as their scores had been below 75 for the past four years.

Although the index has been welcomed by trade unions as a concrete way of forcing companies to comply, the system has its weaknesses.

For example, the index does not calculate the number of women stuck at the bottom of the pay scale, facing what unions call the "glass ceiling".

• A third of French 18-34 year olds have faced workplace discrimination

There is also no mechanism to factor in the number of part-time workers, or the level of diversity within recruitment.

Borne admitted that 43 percent of companies with 50-250 employees were not able to calculate the index as comparisons were not possible within their internal structure (less than three men or women per age and job level).

According to the minister, the pay gap, estimated at around 22 percent by the national statistics body (Insee) was the result of difficulties in accessing full time jobs and well paid jobs.

"We must fight against stereotypes," she said, and "attack the problem at the root, that being "orientation, notably steering young girls towards scientific professions."

*Study carried out by l'institut Viavoice, 2-16 February 2022 based on the responses of 3,000 French people over 15.