On February 5th, more than 30 women and men took part in this meeting. They met in the Maison de Quartier Sainte Geneviève (Marseille) invited by our partner Forum Femmes Méditerranée to discuss about the demands and claims related to migrant women.

The aim of the meeting, which started at 3 pm and finished at 5:30pm, consisted of reflecting and select some claims and demands from the National Meeting of October 1st, related to migrant women.

The meeting counted on the presence of:

  • M. Lionel Royer-Perreaut, mayor of 9 and 10 district and some of his team.
  •  The Association of Algerian Women Tharwa N’fadhma N’soumeur. They explained the situation of Algerian women, particularly the consequences of “the family code”, which not recognise women and men equality. This problem, the lack of a reception centre and room for women victims of violence, the imposed limits with respect of the abortion, etc. are some of the reasons which lead some women to choose exile.

The volunteers selected five of claims and demands from the National Meeting to intervene throughout the year of lobbying the institutions. These were:

  • Professional integration, diploma equivalence and validation of acquired experience:
    • Guarantee the right to work and erradicate all forms of discrimination against them in the field of employment and training.
    • Increase the promotion of the recognition of training and diplomas acquired abroad through a better functioning and generalization of the equivalence system.
  • Fight against violence:
    • Abolish prostitution and provide for concrte and unambiguous provisions allowing women to leave the prostitutional system and guaranteeing them a status with a right of residence.
  • Intercultural dialogue and rights universality:
    • Strengthen protection for women and girls threatened by female genital mutilation and guarantee them appropriate psycological care.
    • Guarantee women an independent legal status as personal rights in a more stable and permanent manner, in particular by systematically sanctioning breaches of the laws guaranteeing their rights when they are not recognised.

From the demands selected as priorities, the question of citizenship was raised in a context of social and political health crisis with a rise in Europe of populism and extreme right-wing currents deeply mobilised against migrants.

To finish the activity, it was chosen a Cristina Rosmini’s song about the death at sea of a women who left on an illegal boat.