Gender and policy in France / by Gill Allwood, Khursheed Wadia.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Allwood, Gill.

Contributor:

Wadia, Khursheed.

Series:

French politics, society, and culture series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Government policy--France.

Women.

Women's rights--France.

Women's rights.

Women--Government policy.

France.

Women--Political activity--France.

Women--Political activity.

France--Social policy--1995-.

Social policy.

Physical Description:

ix, 225 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Summary:

Parliaments made up of more than 80 per cent men have, since 2000, passed laws on contraception, abortion and domestic violence. Men have decided whether girls can wear the Islamic headscarf to school, whether prostitutes should be criminalized rather than their clients, and whether the number of women involved in making these decisions should be increased. The relation between gender and policy is far more complex than whether or not women participate in decision making. Taking as a premise that all public policies are gendered, this book considers selected policy issues which illustrate aspects of the relationship between feminism, gender and policy; a relationship which is increasingly recognized as complex, dynamic and variable. The complexity is best amplified, for example, when attention is focused on intersection of race and gender, class and gender, or both, in policy debates and decision making, raising questions about meanings of universalism, equal rights and citizenship.

Contents:

Introduction 1

Public policy 2

Policy-making: global context and influences 3

Policy-making and politics in France 6

Gender and policy 7

Gender equality policy and mainstreaming 10

Gender and policy in France 11

What does the book do? 13

Why a single-country study? 16

Limitations 17

1 Women, Employment and Gender Equality Policy 18

Women in paid work 19

Equal employment policy: development and institutional architecture 23

Equal employment policy: the Roudy Law of 1983 41

Equal employment policy: the 2006 Ameline Law 47

'Gender-neutral' employment policy and its impact on women 51

Conclusion 56

2 Gender Parity Reform 60

Gender and political representation in history 60

Parity debates and legislation 64

Women's representation in legislative bodies 70

The feminisation of elected assemblies: the rise of new inequalities? 72

Parity and the completion of '(post-)liberal' democracy 76

The effect of women's political participation and representation on political corruption 78

Conclusion 80

3 Abortion 82

Historical context 82

The international context 89

The Aubry bill 2000 93

Framing abortion in the parliamentary debates (2000-2001) 96

The 2001 law on contraception and abortion 100

The implementation of the 2001 law 101

Conclusion 102

4 Prostitution 105

Prostitution debates prior to 1997 105

Prostitution debates 1997-2002 107

The Domestic Security Bill 113

Criminalisation of soliciting 114

Constructing prostitutes in policy debates 116

The client 119

Impact 122

Conclusion 126

5 Domestic Violence 128

Historical context 128

The national context 141

The Domestic Violence Act (4 April 2006) 143

Implementation 146

The presentation of domestic violence in policy debates 148

Conclusion 150

6 The Islamic Headscarf (hijab) 152

Historical background: religion, laïcité and education 155

Headscarf affairs in the new millennium 158

Actors and arguments in the debates over the headscarf ban and the 2004 law 161

The making of the 2004 law 174

Reactions to the law and its implementation 179

Conclusion 181

Conclusion 184

Equality and difference 185

The international, regional, national and local 187

Feminist activism and opportunities or constraints on influencing policy 188

Gender and policy: the future 189.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781403993311

1403993319

OCLC:

427611177