Generation Equality Forum: The Kering Foundation, along with the French government, will fund the creation and roll-out of 15 women's centers in France

The opening ceremony of the Generation Equality Forum was on June 30th 2021, at the Carrousel du Louvre in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, several heads of state and government, international organizations and representatives of civil society (companies, NGOs and activists).

In a speech, François-Henri Pinault, the Chairman and CEO of Kering, announced an increase in the Group’s existing support for combating violence against women. The Kering Foundation will provide €5 million over five years to help finance, along with the government, the opening of 15 centers in France based on the model of La Maison des femmes in Saint-Denis (North of Paris) to provide shelter, care and support for women who are victims of violence.

As a stakeholder in the Generation Equality Forum, Kering is a private sector Leader of the Action Coalition on ‘Gender-based violence’, operating through the ‘OneinThreeWomen’ network which it co-founded, while Gucci, one of the Kering Group’s Houses, is the private sector Leader of the Coalition on ‘Feminist Movements and Leadership’.

“La Maison des femmes in Saint-Denis has demonstrated its value as a way of helping women to break out of a cycle of violence and to rebuild their lives. With the support of the government and other partners, it’s time to roll out these facilities across France, and to also take care of children, who are also victims,” declared François-Henri Pinault, Chairman & CEO of Kering and Chairman of the Kering Foundation.

The Kering Foundation, which has been combating violence against women since 2008, was the first private sector partner to support La Maison des femmes in Saint-Denis, founded in 2016 by Dr. Ghada Hatem.

“With La Maison des femmes, we have been able to place women survivors of violence at the very center of our work. Through caring and listening, our ultimate aim is to enable our patients to start over again,” explains Dr. Ghada Hatem, founder of La Maison des femmes.

A unit within the Saint-Denis Hospital Center, La Maison des femmes in Saint-Denis acts as a single point of care that provides practical, comprehensive help to women in difficulty or who are victims of violence. In 2020, 4,652 women were cared for and supported by La Maison des femmes over nearly 16,000 consultations (a 29% increase from 2019), while 210 victims of incest were also supported.

In 2021, Dr. Ghada Hatem was instrumental in creating the Re#Start Collective, a network that aims to expand healthcare and support for women in difficulty or who are victims of violence. This network aims to create new centers based on the model of La Maison des femmes that offer a range of multidisciplinary support and care, adapted to each woman’s needs. In addition to government funding, an initial group of sponsors, foundations and companies – including the Kering Foundation – was formed to finance the roll-out of these new centers. The Re#Start Collective has two ambassadors, Élisabeth Moreno, France’s Minister Delegate for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities at the Prime Minister’s Office, and François-Henri Pinault.

Violence against women is a major public health challenge, and is generating growing public awareness. According to France’s national statistical body, INSEE, and its observatory of delinquency and the penal system, ONDRP, some 220,000 women aged between 18 and 75 face domestic violence, while more than 450,000 are victims of non-domestic violence. Meanwhile, nearly 60,000 adult women living in France have suffered genital mutilation.