{"id":36667,"date":"2025-06-28T10:30:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T08:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=36667"},"modified":"2026-01-26T20:46:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:46:28","slug":"france-thirty-years-of-service-to-immigrant-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=36667","title":{"rendered":"France: Thirty Years of Service to Immigrant Women"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .<\/p>\n

An article by Genevi\u00e8ve Roy in Breizh Femmes<\/a> (translation by CPNN)<\/p>\n

Immigration today represents 3.7% of the world’s population, or around 300,000 people, 48% of whom are women. Catherine Wihtol de Wenden introduced her topic with a few figures.<\/p>\n

The CNRS researcher, political scientist, and lawyer, who teaches at Sciences Po Paris, came to Rennes to shed light on migration on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of D\u00e9clic Femmes<\/a>. <\/p>\n

An anniversary that the founder, Fatima Z\u00e9dira, wanted to celebrate by retracing the history of an association directly serving immigrant women, striving to provide solutions that meet each individual’s needs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

Women are leaving their countries in ever-increasing numbers, and they are increasingly doing so alone. In Europe, they are even more numerous than the global average, representing 51% of immigrants. Often invisible in society, they hold undervalued jobs working with the elderly, as caregivers, or in the clothing industry.<\/p>\n

For researcher Catherine Wihtol de Wenden, this situation is nothing new. “Migration is world history!” she exclaims, praising the remarkable work that the association D\u00e9clic Femmes<\/a>
\nhas been doing for three decades in welcoming these migrant women to Rennes. “We’re in a very paradoxical context,” she continues, “since in Europe we need immigration in many professional sectors and to increase the demographics of different countries, but at the same time we are pursuing increasingly restrictive policies for welcoming migrants.” Surprisingly, since the 1990s, it has never been easier to leave one’s country, but it has never been more difficult to enter another. In France, for example, the refugee status recognition rate has peaked at 35% of applications. <\/p>\n

(continued in right column)<\/p>\n

(Click here for the original French version<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Questions for this article<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

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Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(continued from left column)<\/p>\n

A Priority: Learning French<\/strong><\/p>\n

The global vision of the situation of migrants around the world, provided by the guest expert, allows Fatima Z\u00e9dira, founder of D\u00e9clic Femmes, to situate the history of her association within French society. In 1995, she chose to support immigrant women through “dignity, family, social, and professional autonomy, and access to citizenship.” Drawing on a quote from Gis\u00e8le Halimi, stating that women’s economic independence is their freedom, she outlines thirty years of association life largely focused on employment and vocational training.<\/p>\n

“The association focused its activities on welcoming and listening,” recalls Fatima Z\u00e9dira, remembering the small 13m\u00b2 space on Rue de Picardie in the Villejean neighborhood where women lined up on the sidewalk. Currently, at 7bis rue d’Armagnac, a few blocks from the original location, the premises are much more spacious and allow for a wider range of activities, welcoming more women, and also exhibiting some of their work. At the same time, branches have been established in other neighborhoods\u2014Blosne and Maurepas. Each year, D\u00e9clic Femmes welcomes between 300 and 500 women, and in total, more than 90 nationalities have crossed paths at the association.<\/p>\n

“Learning French is the key for us to escape isolation, regain self-confidence, and integrate into the host society,” explains Fatima Z\u00e9dira. It is therefore natural that this learning is at the heart of all the activities offered by the association. From discussion groups to language classes, it has taken a lot of energy from the association’s volunteers and employees over the years to find the right balance. Training sessions are also provided to help people learn how to learn. A Positive <\/p>\n

Process of Integration into Society<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of D\u00e9clic Femmes’ priorities is to offer individualized pathways that take into account the individual and their background. For example, there’s no question of mixing people with diverse educational backgrounds in French classes. There are those who have hardly ever attended school, those with a primary school education, sometimes a secondary education, and those who already have a university degree in their own language. Some come from French-speaking countries, others not. Some are comfortable speaking, but not at all writing… But none of them have “time to waste.” They often held jobs, sometimes responsibilities, in their countries of origin. They have obtained diplomas that France does not recognize. They need\u2014and want\u2014to return to working lives as quickly as possible in France. Fatima Z\u00e9dira emphasizes a real “aspiration for emancipation” for all of them.<\/p>\n

For all these women, the association has chosen to co-develop its proposals, tailored as closely as possible to each woman’s immediate needs. And in collaboration with numerous partners. Beyond efficiency, the association also strives to foster civic engagement, offering a variety of visits, trips, participation in activist activities, raising awareness of women’s rights, gender equality, political culture, and cultural and artistic initiatives.<\/p>\n

It’s difficult to measure the impact of the work accomplished over thirty years. However, when a woman leaves the association fluent in French and with a better understanding of the culture and institutions of the host country, Fatima Z\u00e9dira believes that “it’s an entire family that is drawn into a positive process of integration into society.”<\/p>\n

– – – – – –<\/p>\n

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY . An article by Genevi\u00e8ve Roy in Breizh Femmes (translation by CPNN) Immigration today represents 3.7% of the world’s population, or around 300,000 people, 48% of whom are women. Catherine Wihtol de Wenden introduced her topic with a few figures. The CNRS researcher, political scientist, and lawyer, who teaches at Sciences Po … Continue reading France: Thirty Years of Service to Immigrant Women<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,12],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-36667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","category-women","tag-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36667"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37751,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36667\/revisions\/37751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}