In 1981,
Yvette Roudy was appointed la Ministère des Droits de la Femme (The Minister for Women's Rights). Roudy pushed to improve access to contraceptives and for women's reproductive rights. The ministry launched a campaign to spread awareness about women's reproductive rights. The campaign targeted young women, who were likely to be uneducated about reproductive rights. On March 8, 1982, the ministry succeeded in making contraception and abortions accessible. The Ministry created 1.7 million copies of guides of women's rights campaigns, guides on contraception, etc. Under
Nicole Péry (1998 - 2002), the Minister played a key role in international forums, such as the Beijing World Conference on Women. Péry argued that prostitution and other forms of exploitation constitute violence against women and urged the French state to treat them as such. Péry's advocacy resulted in Decree No. 2001-1240 of 21 December 2001. The Decree created a National Commission against Violence towards Women under the Minister Responsible for Women's Rights. Its mission was to coordinate state services and associations on prevention and support for victims of violence and prostitution; collect data and produce analyses on violence against women; make legislative and regulatory recommendations; and organize a national event every three years on this issue. The Commission, chaired by the Minister for Women's Rights, includes representatives of the state, specialist associations, and qualified public figures. It meets at least once a year and must submit a three-yearly activity report with proposals to the Prime Minister.
Nicole Ameline's (2002 - 2005) flagship initiative was the Charter for Equality between Women and Men, presented on 8 March 2004. To address gender-related disparities, the Charter for Equality brought together nearly 100 public and private stakeholders to implement 280 actions across five areas: political and social parity, professional equality, rights and dignity, work-life balance, and European/international solidarity. The legislation also aimed to eliminate the gender pay gap, support women in combining employment and motherhood, promote women in decision-making positions, and diversify vocational training.
Catherine Vautrin (2005 - 2007) focused on evaluating and implementing the Charter's commitments. Two years after its introduction, Vautrin presented an assessment that highlighted several key points: signatory growth, equality plans, remaining pay gaps, monitoring (data collection and analysis), and social integration. Within her assessments, she identified where the Charter was successful, while highlighting shortcomings to address. She turned Ameline's prior work into a measurable policy instrument, allowing the state to target specific weaknesses in the Charter's implementation.
Najat Vallaud-Belkacem (2012 - 2014) launched what she called a "third generation" of women's rights: the creation of the High Council for Equality, work on parity in economic and political decision-making, and policies to fight gender stereotypes in schools and the media. In 2013, she championed a law which imposed fines on those who solicited sex work from prostitutes. This proposed law received backlash from sex workers, who felt legislation would threaten their livelihoods. Since 2017,
Marlène Schiappa,
Élisabeth Moreno,
Isabelle Lonvis-Rome,
Bérangère Couillard and
Aurore Bergé have shifted the focus of the Ministry toward combating sexist and sexual violence and intersectional discrimination. Minister
Lonvis-Rome (2022 - 2023) oversaw the 2023–2027 Interministerial Plan for Equality between Women and Men. The plan organized government action around four main axes: combating violence against women, women's health, professional and economic equality, and building a "culture of equality." Lonvis-Rome drew on her 35 years as a magistrate to insist on better protection and accompaniment of victims from the first report of violence, as well as tackling misogyny and gender stereotypes as root causes. She also framed the plan as an acceleration of reforms launched since 2017, and characterized equality as a "combat" that must be sustained across all ministries in order to achieve far-reaching, concrete equality by 2027. Minister
Elisabeth Moreno (2020 - 2022) presented the 2020-2023 National Action Plan to Promote Equal Rights and Combat Anti-LGBT+ Hatred and Discrimination, which aims to include lesbian, gay, bi, and trans people as full citizens of France. During her tenure, the Ministry was responsible for implementing the Government Action Program against Violence and Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity (est. 2012), as well as the Mobilization Plan against Anti-LGBT Hatred and Discrimination (2016–2019). == Current responsibilities of the Minister ==