Football, rugby and an iconic priest: signs of progress for #MeToo in France despite resistance
By revealing details of an internal investigation implicating their celebrated founder Abbé Pierre in sexual assault, the high-profile charities Emmaüs and the Abbé Pierre Foundation are now doing an exemplary job, despite past denials of any problem, argues Mediapart's joint editor-in-chief Lénaïg Bredoux in this op-ed article. The world of sport - notably football and rugby - is also experiencing similarly turbulent times, she says, amid signs that sections of French society are beginning to face up to the issue.
OnOn paper, the cases have nothing in common. Two French rugby players accused of aggravated rape in Argentina, an English striker being signed by Olympique de Marseille (OM) football club after a complaint of domestic and sexual violence – since dropped - and an iconic abbé who died in 2007 and who is the subject of testimony from seven women over allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Yet, together, they speak volumes about the state of the #MeToo revolution in France.
