* The present document is being issued without formal editing.

* * The annex to the present document may be accessed from the web page of the Committee.

Information received from France on follow-up to the concluding observations on its ninth periodic report * , **

[Date received: 30 April 2026]

1.The Government of the French Republic has the honour to submit to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women its responses to the four recommendations contained in paragraphs 12 (a), 22 (c), 38 (f) and 40 (d) of the concluding observations adopted following consideration of the ninth periodic report of France.

2.First, France has continued and stepped up its efforts to enhance awareness and ownership of the issues addressed by the Convention, its Optional Protocol and the Committee’s general recommendations among all relevant professionals.

3.France has stepped up the training of professionals on equality between women and men and on combating violence, in accordance with the international commitments arising from the Convention and its recommendations.

4.The “Everyone is equal” interministerial plan for equality between women and men for the period 2023–2027, led by the Ministry for equality between women and men and the fight against discrimination, provides the overarching framework for efforts of French authorities to train professionals on these issues, particularly with regard to combating violence against women (sexual and gender-based violence, intimate partner violence and domestic violence).

5.In this context, training programmes tailored to the relevant professionals and professions are being implemented by government ministries and the Interministerial Mission for the Protection of Women Against Violence and the Fight Against Human Trafficking.

6.A common framework of knowledge regarding violence against women and child co-victims is currently being finalized. Its purpose is to harmonize the content of initial and continuing training for public officials and private-sector professionals by fostering a shared culture based on a comprehensive approach centred on the needs of victims.

7.Digital tools help to spread this message, particularly the national platform dedicated to combating violence, arretonslesviolences.gouv.fr, which centralizes resources to support all professionals who might work with women who are victims of violence.

8.The training tools and sessions provided are focused in particular on women facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, such as migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee women, women with disabilities, women belonging to sexual minorities and women victims of prostitution and trafficking in persons.

9.In the healthcare sector, partnership agreements have been established gradually with national professional bodies (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, midwives, podiatrists, dental surgeons etc.) since 2024 to train specialists in sexual violence. Training webinars for the professional bodies are held regularly.

10.In the labour sector, labour inspectors receive training on sexual and moral harassment, as well as on equality between women and men in the workplace. Legal and methodological guides are distributed to strengthen their capacity to respond.

11.Internal security forces (police and gendarmerie) receive in-depth training on violence against women and equality between women and men, both during initial training and through continuing education. Immersive modules have been developed to improve the support given to victims and the consideration given to their testimony. A major effort over several years has made it possible to train tens of thousands of officers, with content regularly updated to incorporate developments in forms of violence. Since the 2019 national round tables on domestic violence, more than 127,000 police officers from all branches have been trained in combating violence against women.

12.In the judicial sector, judges and correctional personnel receive initial and continuing training on violence. Specialized training programmes help deepen understanding of domestic violence and improve support for victims and perpetrators. Institutional partnerships enhance the quality of training. Several training courses offered by the National School for the Judiciary are open to lawyers.

13.Officials at the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons and the panels of judges of the National Court of Asylum are trained to address the forms of violence faced by women asylum-seekers, such as early and forced marriages, genital mutilation, trafficking in persons, intimate partner violence and domestic violence.

14.In national and higher education, training and awareness-raising programmes are provided for staff. The implementation of the new programme on emotional, relational and sexual education in all schools since September 2025 has been accompanied by a major training plan for all staff in the national education system.

15.Similar initiatives are being implemented in the youth, sports, culture, diplomacy and defence sectors. In the first two sectors, for example, training sessions have been provided since September 2025 using new training packages (Selma and Lilia, respectively).

16.All these initiatives are based on interministerial cooperation, in partnership with specialized associations, and aim to foster a shared culture of preventing, detecting and addressing violence.

17.Second, France has undertaken a major reform of its criminal law to better comply with international standards on combating sexual violence.

18.Act No. 2025–1057 of 6 November 2025 amends the definition of rape and sexual assault by explicitly incorporating the concept of consent into the Criminal Code. Article 222–22 of the Criminal Code now defines rape and any other sexual assault as any non-consensual sexual act committed against another person or against the perpetrator. The Act defines consent as being free, informed, specific, prior and revocable. It is assessed in light of the circumstances and cannot be inferred from the victim’s silence or lack of reaction. An opinion issued by the Council of State on 6 March 2025 clarifies those terms.

19.The four elements previously used to constitute the offence of rape – violence, coercion, threat or surprise – have been retained and are deemed to be instances of lack of consent.

20.This major development in French criminal law places consent at the centre of the assessment of the offences of rape and sexual assault and makes it possible to provide a criminal justice response tailored to those situations. It applies to ongoing situations from its entry into force.

21.The Act also expands the definition of acts constituting rape to include oral and anal acts by amending article 222–23 of the Criminal Code; that change applies only to offences committed after the entry into force of the Act.

22.Building on the inclusion of consent in the criminal definition of rape and sexual assault, and in light of the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights of 23 January 2025, a bill to abolish the “marital duty” is in the process of being adopted. The bill amends articles 215 and 242 of the Civil Code pertaining to marriage and divorce, respectively, by clarifying that the community of life between spouses does not create any obligation to have sexual relations and that divorce on the grounds of fault cannot be based on the absence of or refusal to have sexual relations between spouses. This legal clarification is intended to put an end to outdated case law and to fully enshrine the principle of consent in conjugal relations.

23.In 2025, Aurore Bergé, Minister for equality between women and men and the fight against discrimination, convened a cross-party parliamentary working group on violence against women, including domestic violence. At the conclusion of the sessions, around 50 consensus-based measures were identified, including measures on prevention, training, detection and enforcement. The proposals resulting from that work are to be supported through various pieces of legislation submitted to the National Assembly or the Senate.

24.Prevention plays a central role in French public policy. The previously mentioned programme on emotional, relational and sexual education takes a comprehensive approach that integrates emotional, relational and social dimensions, in addition to biological aspects. It is aimed at providing all pupils, from the earliest age, with comprehensive, contextualized and age-appropriate education on intimacy, respect, consent and equality.

25.In higher education, awareness-raising campaigns are conducted for students and staff on respecting consent and preventing and combating sexual and gender-based violence (the “No means no” and “Sexual and gender-based violence: let’s change the rules” campaigns). A variety of educational tools are distributed to promote a culture of respect and prevent violence.

26.Together, these measures reflect an integrated approach that combines legal reform, education and awareness-raising to prevent violence and better protect victims.

27.Third, France has continued its efforts to rigorously assess the health impacts of the nuclear tests carried out in French Polynesia, on the basis of the available scientific data and for ensuring the right to compensation.

28.The health consequences of the nuclear tests conducted in French Polynesia have been the subject of in-depth scientific assessments. The doses of ionizing radiation received by the public are generally low:

•Centaure test (one of the atmospheric tests conducted between 1966 and 1974): doses of the order of 1 millisievert, ranging from less than 1 millisievert to a few millisieverts;

•Underground tests conducted between 1974 and 1998: doses ranging from several microsieverts to several dozen microsieverts.

29.The effects of very low doses of radiation, if any, are very rare. Scientific data show that a dose of 1 millisievert may result in up to five excess cancer deaths per 100,000 people. In the case of French Polynesia, given the size of the population involved and the low radiation doses received, one or two cancer-related deaths might have resulted at most. According to the Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection, more than 99% of cancers occurring in a population exposed to a dose of the order of 1 millisievert are not attributable to exposure to ionizing radiation.

30.In 2020, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research presented, as part of a meta-study, a detailed review of the scientific knowledge of the health effects of the radiation doses received by the Polynesian population during the atmospheric nuclear tests. It indicates that the results of existing studies are insufficient to draw a firm conclusion regarding a possible link between the fallout from the nuclear tests and the occurrence of pathologies. Similarly, the international scientific literature cites no evidence of transgenerational effects in humans at doses below 1 sievert, which drastically reduces the likelihood of transmission at doses of the order of 1 millisievert, as is the case with fallout from the nuclear tests in French Polynesia. The review also shows that, at very low doses (less than 10 millisieverts), the available data do not indicate a risk of cancer in persons exposed in utero.

31.Among the available epidemiological studies assessing the potential health effects of nuclear test fallout on the Polynesian population, a study by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research published in 2023 concluded, with a confidence interval of 0.6% to 7.7%, that nuclear tests conducted by France could be responsible for a total of 2.3% of all thyroid cancer cases. However, it did not examine the differences between women and men, which would have been impossible in any event due to the low number of cases.

32.The National Cancer Institute has been asked to develop proposals for etiological studies on cancers with higher incidence rates in French Polynesia than in metropolitan France, including cancers affecting women (thyroid and uterine). The proposals resulting from this request, which are expected in 2026, will make it possible to identify the research needed to better understand the impact of certain factors on these higher incidence rates, such as changes in screening practices, diagnostic monitoring conditions and genetic predispositions. The Institute will also prepare recommendations on cancer monitoring in French Polynesia.

33.With regard to compensation, Act No. 2010–2 of 5 January 2010, on the recognition and compensation of victims of French nuclear tests, as amended, guarantees the right to full compensation for the harm suffered by victims of French nuclear tests conducted in French Polynesia. The Act is based on a presumption of causality, which is grounded in three conditions: location, time and pathology. That presumption may be rebutted if exposure to ionizing radiation is shown to be less than 1 millisievert, the dose limit considered acceptable for the general public and established by the Public Health Code in accordance with a European Atomic Energy Community directive, which is itself based on recommendations of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Claims for compensation are reviewed by an independent body, the Committee for the Compensation of Victims of Nuclear Tests.

34.In 2022, a support mission to monitor the consequences of nuclear testing was established to facilitate access to the compensation programme. It works directly with the affected communities to help them prepare their cases for submission to the Committee for the Compensation of Victims of Nuclear Tests. The mission has contributed to the significant increase in the number of cases filed by women with the Committee and to improving their access to compensation. Since 2022, there has been a reversal of the initial trend, with the majority of cases now filed by women.

35.With regard to time limits, the Committee for the Compensation of Victims of Nuclear Tests complies with the statutory time limit of eight months between the date on which a case file is considered complete and its review at a Committee meeting. However, due to the significant increase in caseload, the time between the receipt of a case and its review at a meeting is currently about 12 months. The Committee has increased the number of meetings per year and the number of cases reviewed per meeting in order to minimize processing times for all cases.

36.This mechanism helps improve access to justice and better address the needs of the affected communities.

37.Fourth, France has continued its ambitious policy to promote women’s sport, building on the momentum generated by the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

38.The policy of France on women’s sport has four main objectives: to facilitate women’s access to sport and strengthen their role in governance and leadership; to boost the economy and visibility of women’s sport; to enhance support for elite sportswomen; and to combat sexual and gender-based stereotypes and violence in sport.

39.Through the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Community Life, French authorities continue to monitor the implementation of the road map established by the Standing Conference on Women’s Sport.

40.In accordance with Act No. 2022–296 of 2 March 2022, aimed at making sports more accessible to all in France, legal requirements have been introduced to ensure parity in the governing bodies of sports federations (from 2024 at the national level, and from 2028 at the regional level). Financial targets have also been set for the federations to support the development of women’s participation in sport. Investments have been made to develop appropriate infrastructure, promoting women’s access to sport. Specific initiatives also promote their access to degrees and careers in the sports sector. The results indicate an increase in women’s participation in sport, in terms of the number of registered athletes and occasional participants, and a narrowing of the gaps with men.

41.An economic study of women’s sport, scheduled for publication in 2026, is under way to identify ways to accelerate its development and strengthen its organization. Many major French companies support women’s sports teams. Reflecting the growing public interest, media coverage of women’s sport has improved significantly, thanks to the mobilization of the support fund for audiovisual production administered by the National Sports Agency, the free broadcast of several major women’s sporting events and the annual “Women’s Sport Always” campaign.

42.Elite female athletes benefit from specific measures, particularly regarding maternity leave, parental leave and professional support. Thanks to these measures, the proportion of women on the lists of elite athletes reached 42% in 2024, and elite sportswomen now receive 42.5% of the funding allocated to personalized support for athletes. Measures are in place to help them transition to new careers and enter the workforce by recognizing the skills that they have acquired during their sports careers.

43.Combating sexual and gender-based violence and stereotypes in sport is a top priority. Training and prevention tools and mechanisms for identification, reporting and sanctioning have been strengthened, as have background checks for professionals and volunteers. A case in point is Act No. 2024–201 of 8 March 2024, which is aimed at strengthening the protection of minors and integrity in sport. The National Convention on the Prevention of Violence in Sports has been held annually since 2020.

44.The “Level playing field” government certification programme, established in 2023, aims to promote equality between men and women and to prevent and combat discrimination and violence at major international sporting events held in France. It includes a methodological package for organizers, which helps them develop a protocol for reporting and addressing sexual and gender-based violence. The 2023 Rugby World Cup, the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 2025 Badminton World Championships have all been officially designated.

45.Awareness-raising campaigns and educational activities for young people, professionals and the general public help break down stereotypes and prevent violence. For example, an awareness-raising campaign about the ban on purchasing sexual services, aimed at the general public and foreign visitors in particular, was launched during the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games and then rebroadcast in the summer of 2025.

46.All these public policies, along with the partnerships established with economic, media and civil society stakeholders, help develop and support women’s sport in France.

47.These four areas of focus reflect the ongoing commitment of France to improving its legislation and public policies through a cross-cutting, interministerial approach grounded in respect for human rights.

48.The Committee will find statistical data regarding recommendation 38 (f) in the annex to the present letter.

49.The Government of France remains fully committed to continuing these efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and stands ready to provide the Committee with any additional information that it may require.