The policy pursued by successive governments in recent years to promote equality between women and men “still only results in limited progress,” indicates the Court of Auditors in a report published this Thursday, September 14. She recommends a better evaluation of the actions carried out, pointing out “methodological errors” despite undeniable mobilization of the executive on the subject. The report, which focused on policy from 2017 to 2022, was suggested during a citizen consultation.
Designated a “great national cause” during Macron’s first five-year term, equality between women and men does not benefit from a “global strategy” nor “effective management”. The Court of Auditors thus notes a “diversity” of strategic plans, which have not been consolidated “into a single roadmap”. “The approach by catalog of measures fails to ensure that this fundamental theme permeates all public policies,” commented Pierre Moscovici, First President of the Court of Auditors, at a press conference.
The management of this policy has also been made “difficult” by “deficiencies in the design of the measures themselves”: many of them are “not based on a precise diagnosis of situations and needs”. In addition, many measures “have not been accompanied by means, nor a timetable for implementation, nor results indicators, nor targets, which makes their evaluation impossible”, deplore the Sages of rue Cambon.
They therefore recommend turning the new interministerial plan for equality between women and men 2023-2027 into “a measurable and evaluable roadmap”, which specifies the “means” allocated, the timetables and the “targets”. The Court of Auditors also recommends designing an “interministerial program for evaluating actions” carried out by the State and by the organizations it finances. For the moment, the fight against domestic violence and for professional equality, two projects that have become priorities, have “only partially advanced”, according to the Court of Auditors.
With regard to the fight against domestic violence, she welcomes the progress in protecting victims (strengthening of listening and support systems, distribution of “serious danger telephones”) and support for perpetrators (who can be taken care of in specialized centers, or have anti-reconciliation bracelets imposed on them). However, she regrets the absence of measures “to change mentalities”, such as those relating to prevention based on education.
“Education is really the blind spot of this policy, which has focused on the perpetrators, the victims of today without seeking sufficiently to fight from the formation of minds against the idea that one can impose one’s will to one’s spouse through violence,” said Mr. Moscovici. When it comes to equality at work, progress in reducing inequalities in the private sector remains “slow, despite a growing legislative arsenal over several decades”.
