In 1961, Dr. Henri Fabre and a team of activists created the first
center of the French Family Planning Movement in Grenoble, one year
after the association was founded. ---- We learned this through the
victim's testimony, so long after. We salute her courage to finally
break this silence and affirm our support for her. ---- In 1961, Dr.
Henri Fabre and a team of activists created the first center of the
French Family Planning Movement in Grenoble, one year after the
association was founded. ---- The same year, in this center, Henri Fabre
raped a woman during a gynecology consultation. And a question
immediately arises: how many others?
We learned this through the victim's testimony, so long after. We salute
her courage to finally break this silence and affirm our support for her.
His testimony was made possible by decades of feminist struggle, in
which Family Planning played a major role. The fact that he himself does
not escape male violence is proof of its scale throughout society.
The Pélicot affair demonstrated this in a sadly striking way: any man
who has the opportunity can become a rapist. As such, doctors, and even
more so gynecologists, have always had a privileged place. The power
relationship that they have de facto with their patients offers them
these opportunities. If official figures are lacking on sexual violence
in consultations, it is no coincidence that several waves of liberation
of speech have specifically targeted doctors, such as #PayeTonUtérus in
2014 or more recently within the MeToo movement.
This fact is not inevitable. It is not an alleged intrinsic "nature" of
men that makes them rapists: it is the social structures of male
domination, in other words patriarchy. If men rape, it is because rape
is minimized, made into a joke, or even encouraged. It is because
rapists are rarely accused and rarely convicted, both socially and
criminally, whereas women's acts of resistance, sometimes pushed to the
limit, are heavily punished. It is because women's consent is seen as
optional, and even more so in a medical context. It is because men know
that they can rape with impunity, because it is the ultimate tool for
controlling women. The Henri Fabre affair is scathing proof of this: he
was never worried about his actions during his lifetime. Shocked and
knowing that her word would be worthless in the face of this "figure" of
women's rights, his victim had to keep quiet for sixty years. Henri
Fabre then stopped practicing to become a medical inspector at 59, which
is young for the profession and does not fail to raise questions: were
medical institutions - such as the Order of Physicians, fundamentally
conservative and patriarchal - aware?
Only a large-scale feminist movement will be able to push back, and one
day eradicate, the patriarchy that allows this violence. Freeing up
speech is the first essential step. Today, it has made it possible to
shed light on Henri Fabre; it must be strengthened further, to reveal
and punish the acts of all aggressive and sexist doctors, whether they
practice at the Family Planning Clinic or anywhere else. This is a fight
that concerns all of society: we must achieve zero tolerance against
sexist and sexual violence (SSA).
To facilitate this liberation and go even further, it is important to
develop places for women to self-organize, and first and foremost
feminist organizations. It is more relevant than ever to join and
strengthen the Family Planning, to which we affirm our support: the more
numerous and powerful we are there, the more we will contribute to the
balance of power against VSS, and the more we will be able to prevent
them and support the victims.
VSS exists everywhere, so we must carry out this work at all levels: in
our social circles, in our workplaces, but also in our organizations and
unions. It is our responsibility, and the self-organization of women is
the cornerstone.
Union communiste libertaire, October 30, 2024
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Pouvoir-medical-et-violence-patriarcale-le-Planning-Familial-s-attaque-aux-VSS
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
center of the French Family Planning Movement in Grenoble, one year
after the association was founded. ---- We learned this through the
victim's testimony, so long after. We salute her courage to finally
break this silence and affirm our support for her. ---- In 1961, Dr.
Henri Fabre and a team of activists created the first center of the
French Family Planning Movement in Grenoble, one year after the
association was founded. ---- The same year, in this center, Henri Fabre
raped a woman during a gynecology consultation. And a question
immediately arises: how many others?
We learned this through the victim's testimony, so long after. We salute
her courage to finally break this silence and affirm our support for her.
His testimony was made possible by decades of feminist struggle, in
which Family Planning played a major role. The fact that he himself does
not escape male violence is proof of its scale throughout society.
The Pélicot affair demonstrated this in a sadly striking way: any man
who has the opportunity can become a rapist. As such, doctors, and even
more so gynecologists, have always had a privileged place. The power
relationship that they have de facto with their patients offers them
these opportunities. If official figures are lacking on sexual violence
in consultations, it is no coincidence that several waves of liberation
of speech have specifically targeted doctors, such as #PayeTonUtérus in
2014 or more recently within the MeToo movement.
This fact is not inevitable. It is not an alleged intrinsic "nature" of
men that makes them rapists: it is the social structures of male
domination, in other words patriarchy. If men rape, it is because rape
is minimized, made into a joke, or even encouraged. It is because
rapists are rarely accused and rarely convicted, both socially and
criminally, whereas women's acts of resistance, sometimes pushed to the
limit, are heavily punished. It is because women's consent is seen as
optional, and even more so in a medical context. It is because men know
that they can rape with impunity, because it is the ultimate tool for
controlling women. The Henri Fabre affair is scathing proof of this: he
was never worried about his actions during his lifetime. Shocked and
knowing that her word would be worthless in the face of this "figure" of
women's rights, his victim had to keep quiet for sixty years. Henri
Fabre then stopped practicing to become a medical inspector at 59, which
is young for the profession and does not fail to raise questions: were
medical institutions - such as the Order of Physicians, fundamentally
conservative and patriarchal - aware?
Only a large-scale feminist movement will be able to push back, and one
day eradicate, the patriarchy that allows this violence. Freeing up
speech is the first essential step. Today, it has made it possible to
shed light on Henri Fabre; it must be strengthened further, to reveal
and punish the acts of all aggressive and sexist doctors, whether they
practice at the Family Planning Clinic or anywhere else. This is a fight
that concerns all of society: we must achieve zero tolerance against
sexist and sexual violence (SSA).
To facilitate this liberation and go even further, it is important to
develop places for women to self-organize, and first and foremost
feminist organizations. It is more relevant than ever to join and
strengthen the Family Planning, to which we affirm our support: the more
numerous and powerful we are there, the more we will contribute to the
balance of power against VSS, and the more we will be able to prevent
them and support the victims.
VSS exists everywhere, so we must carry out this work at all levels: in
our social circles, in our workplaces, but also in our organizations and
unions. It is our responsibility, and the self-organization of women is
the cornerstone.
Union communiste libertaire, October 30, 2024
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Pouvoir-medical-et-violence-patriarcale-le-Planning-Familial-s-attaque-aux-VSS
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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