Letting your colleague pass on the stairs to see under her skirt, not hiring a woman because she is the mother of two children, reserving positions that require physical strength for men. To all these examples, add: “We can no longer flirt quietly” and a “sexist and clichéd little joke”.
To put an end to these stereotypes and these actions, the team of the Women’s and Family Rights Information Center (CIDFF) of the Alpes-Maritimes is leading a pilot project unique in France built with the CIDFF Paca.
“We are all imbued with enormities internalized by the society in which we live, recognizes Olfa Ben Aouissi, in charge of the integration and equality mission. Our goal is to show that it is possible to deconstruct these ready-made ideas which are, in reality, violence for some people. »
Linking professional support and awareness raising
This mission is part of the device Egalipro which has existed for a few years via “the professional integration and support of women looking for work” and has expanded to raise awareness of gender-based and sexual violence within companies since 2021. “It’s completely free and open to all,” says Aude Antoinette, equality and employment officer at CIDFF 06.
No criteria are required to benefit from Egalipro, which is financed by the European Support Fund. “You just need a little give-and-take commitment,” continues the section manager. She adds: “The idea is to create a link with the first aspect of the project and to allow the women we support to discover trades through the partnerships that we make. This is illustrated in coaching or internships, for example. Everyone does as they can and as they want.
In exchange, the two women undertake to raise awareness among the teams free of charge on gender-based and sexual violence and harassment at work.
A “playful and caring” atmosphere to talk about gender-based and sexual violence
Fragrant expressions, a perfume composition house of the Givaudan group, in Grasse, has been one of the fifteen partner companies since March 2022 and will renew the collaboration next year. “This project is rooted in the company’s approach to improving its approach to gender equality,” explains Alexia Dominey, head of the sustainable development project for this box of 237 employees.
The latter all benefited from an hour and a half of awareness-raising on sexism at work, while the managers spent half a day talking about the subject. To talk to groups of twelve to fifteen people, the CIDFF06 project managers have a specific “briefcase”.
“We set up a benevolent and playful atmosphere so as not to crystallize people, underlines Olfa Ben Aouissi. We make them active by taking concrete examples, which they have already experienced, heard or experienced. We define what gender-based and sexual violence is and lay down the legal framework. The goal is to break this trivialization of actions. »
“Investing for more social justice”
The Egalipro project made it possible to “raise essential points” among the employees of Expressions Parfumées. Alexia Dominey develops: “We had all types of reception in the teams. People who felt attacked, others who realized they had accepted too much in their careers. In all cases, there were awareness raisings and a lot of discussions. »
According to the one who is also part of the CSR team, she is convinced that, thanks to this partnership, “behaviours will change”. “It is also an opportunity to publicize the actions of the CIDFF in general and to highlight the subject of gender-based and sexual violence,” she says. And even beyond. The project manager underlines the interest for the company to have teams that feel good at work for its activity.
“The need is there. And it is in the legal obligations of an employer in terms of the health and safety of its employees to pay attention to it. Now he has the means to do so and to invest in greater social justice,” concludes Aude Antoinette.