The Fête de l'Humanité is known for being a large, militant and festive
gathering. But this year, behind the apparent euphoria, a key elementhas shown its limits: the "safe zone," supposed to protect
festival-goers from sexist and sexual violence, has been a bitter
failure. ---- The Fête de l'Humanité aims to be a place of diversity and
inclusiveness, mixing committed concerts, conferences and prevention
spaces. We can hear artists like Angélique Kidjo calling for "slamming
the patriarchy" and defending women's rights. However, this desire to
promote progressive values comes up against blatant contradictions. On
the same day, rapper Kerchak shares his vision of heterosexual
relationships: "Since I've been doing pe-ra, it's easy, I fuck her
without telling her: 'You're beautiful'."
This misogynistic vision passes without filter in front of a young
audience. A few hours after a demonstration against violence against
women, the Fête de l'Huma had planned a concert by Heuss l'enfoiré, a
rapper who was guilty of domestic violence against his partner at the
beginning of 2022. Feminist groups including Nous Toutes, le Planning
familial, Stop Harcèlement de rue, Metoo média, Stop Fisha and Hér·oïnes
95 have called for its cancellation. The management of the Fête de
l'Huma accedes to their request, but justifies itself on the networks
and is content to modestly indicate the absence of Heuss l'enfoiré "for
reasons beyond the rapper's control".
A catastrophic management from the start
These dissonances do not stop there. Despite the organization's
commitment to taking gender-based and sexual violence seriously by
establishing a "safe zone", the management of this prevention space left
something to be desired. The lack of resources and coordination got the
better of the "goodwill" displayed.
Contacted two weeks before the event, the associations Héro·ïnes 95 and
Techno+ had agreed to manage this nighttime space dedicated to the
prevention and management of gender-based violence. Techno+ cancelled
its participation at the last minute but the festival organizers did not
see fit to inform the volunteers of the other association. This
"oversight" puts the two volunteers scheduled for Friday evening against
the wall: they will be managing a "safe zone" alone in the middle of
430,000 festival-goers. A disaster foretold.
The marquee that was supposed to serve as a refuge for the victims? Two
sofas, two lamps, two kettles... without water, of course. No emergency
blankets, nothing to warm up with, nothing to nibble on. We can imagine
that some guests were treated much better!
The volunteers, who were supposed to have administrator access to the
Safer application to be alerted in real time of attacks on the site,
never obtained the necessary access. In general, the volunteers felt a
deep contempt on the part of the organizers, who claimed with a certain
arrogance that they knew perfectly well how to manage such a space and
that they had already done so in the past. However, the associations
that had taken part in this system in previous years all refused to
repeat the experience, proof that everything had not worked as well as
claimed.
Lack of communication and coordination
The circus that was supposed to serve as a shelter for the victims? Two
sofas, two lamps, two kettles... without water, of course. No emergency
blankets, nothing to warm up with, nothing to nibble on. A precarious
situation for the volunteers themselves, who had to face the cold
without adequate equipment. No emergency contraception, no earplugs, and
not even a site map available. These had been replaced by an
application... useful only for those who still had battery or their
phone in hand.
Festival-goers were completely unaware of this initiative. The
commitment made by the organizers to promote the associations present on
the website and social networks was never respected. The "safe zone" was
not even mentioned on the Instagram account of the Fête de l'Huma,
including in the publication dedicated to relaying security measures!
Result: not only was the public not aware, but even security and the
infirmary were unaware of the existence of this space.
The walkie-talkie essential for coordinating with the security teams was
not given to the volunteers until 10:12 p.m., well after the start of
the service scheduled for 8 p.m. And no point in turning to the official
festival stand, which did not even know where the infirmary was, a sign
of general disorganization.
Festival-goers left abandoned
The situation on the ground was alarming. The stand, poorly secured,
became a real point of attraction for festival-goers under the influence
of substances. A visibly disoriented man entered the "safe zone" tent,
without being seen by the only security guard posted late (at the
express request of the volunteers) in the area. Other festival-goers saw
it as an opportunity to come and relieve themselves: on Sunday morning,
the volunteers discovered excrement around their tent. Slaloming between
vomit and human excrement: this is what this space had become, supposed
to be a safe haven.
At night, the information points, prevention stands and even lost
property offices closed their doors at 1am, while the concerts continued
until dawn. It was not only absurd: it was dangerous. Festival-goers
looking for help or emergency contraception were faced with a pharmacy
that did not have the morning-after pill. No solution had been thought
of to meet these essential needs.
On Saturday morning, the two volunteers had to throw in the towel after
a sleepless night trying to maintain a barely functional area: there
would be no "safe zone" the following evening. Exhausted and freezing,
they walked 45 minutes to reach the station, escorted by two drunken men
who harassed them the whole way. No security in sight.
A chilling assessment
Despite the massive influx of festival-goers, no official reports of
sexist or sexual violence were recorded during the three days of the
Festival. A figure that seems to reflect a lack of organization rather
than a real absence of problems. On the bright side, the Essonne
prosecutor's office was not overwhelmed: it had decided that each report
would automatically be transformed into a complaint.
A poorly thought-out and uncommunicated initiative, like the rest: for
the victims, this would have meant being summoned the next morning to
the prefecture, instead of being able to stay on site to enjoy the rest
of the festival for which they had paid. A real double punishment.
In 2012, the leading organizations of the Fête de l'Humanité were
committed to gender equality.
A party by and for men
Throughout the weekend, the basic recommendations of feminist groups
such as Planning Familial and Nous Toutes were largely ignored. However,
the associations present had proposed simple solutions: a well-equipped
prevention space, better communication with festival-goers, and stricter
measures to limit alcohol-related excesses. But nothing was done. On the
contrary, festival-goers found themselves in an environment where
alcohol was cheaper than soft drinks, where a glass of water cost more
than a shot. A breeding ground for sexist excesses and violence.
In the end, this poorly organized and dangerous "safe zone" only exposed
a deeper problem. The Fête de l'Humanité seems to have been designed by
and for men, completely ignoring the needs of festival-goers and
feminist volunteers. If, as one of the Fête de l'Huma volunteers
claimed, it is a question of a lack of resources, the solution is not to
quickly cobble together a "safe zone" that is safe in name only and that
in reality endangers not only the public, but also the speakers. The
festival gives itself the appearance of inclusion: feminist and queer
stands were plentiful, UCL even made a very applauded intervention at
the Inverti·es stand, but the reality was quite different and these
initiatives look like pinkwashing[1].
Harassed women, mistreated volunteers, an unsanitary space and a
disastrous organisation: this is the true outcome of the Fête de l'Huma,
which is ultimately a celebration for only half of humanity.
Nasham (UCL Montreuil)
Validate
[1]The term pinkwashing refers to the fact that an organisation, a
company or even a state uses a "feminist" showcase to improve its image
even though nothing concrete is done.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Fete-de-l-Huma-2024-une-safe-zone-qui-met-en-danger
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