French minister's shocking remarks: Why women reporters aren't ‘topless’
The leader of the opposition Socialists, Olivier Faure called Eric Dupond-Moretti's
words "inappropriate remarks by an inappropriate minister".
French journalist groups condemned "sexist" remarks directed at women reporters by country's justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti who made the comments after inspecting a courthouse in the central town of Aurillac. He said that it had been damaged during a protest against the prosecution of a woman for "sexual exhibitionism" after she walked topless in the street. During the demonstration, many bared their chests like the arrested woman who told police that she had removed her top because "it's super hot out" and "half the men" in the street had done the same.
The Societe des Journalistes (SDJ) claimed that Eric Dupond-Moretti told journalists that “I have noticed that none of the women journalists asking questions today were standing bare-breasted in front of me. Maybe it wasn't hot enough?” The SDJ said that he made the "inappropriate" remarks after a press briefing to several reporters, two of whom were women. The SDJ called the remarks "sexist" and "unacceptable" even "if they had been made jokingly".
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There was "no basis" to the complaints and that the minister was "completely" devoted to “the fight against all forms of sexual and sexist violence”, an official speaking for Eric Dupond-Moretti said. The minister's remarks had been taken out of context and that he had simply wanted to point out that women wearing tops were “proof that respect for the law is the norm”, he clarified.
The leader of the opposition Socialists, Olivier Faure called Eric Dupond-Moretti's words "inappropriate remarks by an inappropriate minister". The minister "should manage his libido elsewhere than in government", Olivier Faure said.
Eric Dupond-Moretti has earlier also made objectionable remarks. In March, he was scolded by France prime minister Elisabeth Borne for repeatedly using an offensive hand gesture known as the “bras d'honneur” towards an opposition lawmaker in parliament.
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