thumb|right|300px|The group's logo

Ni Putes Ni Soumises (which roughly translates as Neither Whores nor Submissives) is a French feminist movement, founded in 2002, which has secured the recognition of the French press and the National Assembly of France. It is generally dependent on public funding. It is also the name of a book written by Fadela Amara, one of the leaders of the movement, with the help of Le Monde journalist Sylvia Zappi.

In 2005 this movement inspired the creation of the similarly named movement in Sweden.

Fadela Amara was appointed as junior minister for urban policy in François Fillon's first government in May 2007. She left the government in 2010, and was named France's inspector general for social affairs in January 2011.

NPNS was set up by a group of young French women, including Samira Bellil, in response to the violence being directed at them in the predominantly Muslim immigrant suburbs (banlieues) and public housing (cités) of cities such as Paris, Lyon and Toulouse, where organised gang-rapes are referred to as tournantes, or "pass-arounds".

Goals

Ni Putes Ni Soumises fights against violence targeting women, including domestic violence and gang rape, as well as social pressures.

The movement's platform for victims of domestic violence helps women and their children escape dangerous situations and supports them in the rebuilding of their lives after the fact. Its support team is made up of lawyers, psychologists, an educational specialist and a legal counsel.

Ni Putes Ni Soumises also supports the White Ribbon Campaign, which runs from 25 November to 6 December every year, and uses this as an opportunity to promote 3919, the national domestic violence helpline.

thumb|Ni Putes Ni Soumises White Ribbon Campaign poster

thumb|The book cover of Ni Putes Ni Soumises.

Ni Putes Ni Soumises also carries out awareness-raising seminars in schools in order to encourage students to think about gender equality and break the cycle of sexism. In this way, the movement was able to reach out to 950 students in 2016.

The slogan used by the movement is meant both to shock and mobilise. Members particularly protest against changes of attitudes toward women, claiming there is an increased influence of Islamic extremism in those French suburbs with large immigrant populations. A particular concern is the treatment of Muslim women. Members claim that they may be pressured into wearing veils, leaving school, and marrying early.

  • No more moralising: our condition has worsened. The media and politics have done nothing, or very little, for us.
  • No more wretchedness. We are fed up with people speaking for us, with being treated with contempt.
  • No more justifications of our oppression in the name of the right to be different and of respect toward those who force us to bow our heads.
  • No more silence in public debates about violence, poverty and discrimination.

Early history

Samira Bellil and Sohanne Benziane

Two high-profile cases gave a particular impetus to NPNS during 2003. The first was that of Samira Bellil, who published a book called Dans l'enfer des tournantes ("In Gang Rape Hell"). Elsa Dorlin, Étienne Balibar, Houria Bouteldja, etc.), who claimed that it overshadowed the work of other feminist NGOs and that it supported an Islamophobic instrumentalization of feminism by the French Right.

Houria Bouteldja qualified Ni Putes ni Soumises as an Ideological State Apparatus (AIE).

See also

  • Rape in France
  • Islam in France

General

  • Islam and domestic violence
  • Women in Islam

References

Bibliography

  • BELLIL, Samira: Dans l'enfer des tournantes, Gallimard, 2003, .
  • AMARA, Fadela & ZAPPI, Sylvia: Ni putes ni soumises, La Découverte, 2003, . Review
  • MURRAY, Brittany & PERPICH, Diane: Taking French Feminism to the Streets: Fadela Amara and the Rise of Ni Putes Ni Soumises, University of Illinois Press, 2011, .
  • Official website (in French)
  • Ni Putes ni Soumises Rallies: in photos
  • Neither whores nor submissive
  • Time Europe: Acting on the outrage
  • Time Magazine: Sisters In Hell
  • Book review Neither whores nor submissive and In gang-rape hell
  • Vanity Fair: Daughters of France, Daughters of Allah