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Martine Aubry: fighting for social rights and gender equality
France is very well known for its rich culture and history, famous art galleries, fashion and fine cuisine. But France is also famous for many successful women in politics.
France ranks 4th in the EU on the Gender Equality Index, With 75.5 out of 100 points. Its score is 7.5 points above the EU’s score.
Equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities are all human rights, and sometimes it seems that there is a long road ahead of us in achieving these goals that are also essential for economic prosperity and for future of woman rights in France.
Although there are still many changes to be made for France to become entirely gender-equal, the country is constantly fighting for this fundamental human rights issue that raises many questions.
We are now witnessing an increase in the number of women in politics who are fighting for equality and women’s rights. One of the major woman influences in France is Martine Aubry, who was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party from November 2008 to April 2012 and has been the Mayor of Lille since March 2001. She is also the first female to hold this important position.
Mayor Aubry has been very politically active since the beginning of her career and is mostly known for having pushed the popular 35-hour workweek law. This law is known as the “Loi Aubry” (Aubry’s Law) which reduced the length of the normal full-time working week from 39 to 35 hours.
Martine has been rewarded with the World mayor prize in 2018 because she has made outstanding and long-lasting contributions to her community. By achieving this award, she became a role model for many young woman but also for men. This prize represents what the outstanding women mayors achieve all over the world, and encourages more women to contemplate a career in local government and run for political office.
Mayor Aubry has written a series of personal essays in which she described the reasons that motivated her to enter politics and the many difficult challenges she faces as a woman mayor. She has also described the fight against global warming and how fighting it can further strengthen justice and equality around the world.
She is always urging the young woman to aim high and is acknowledging the huge importance of a woman’s voice in politics.
Martine is always speaking about many social and ecological problems that the world is facing nowadays: “My conviction, unlike others, is that there will be no ecological transition without social justice. It was already in my program before the first round of municipal elections and it has been my priority since I am mayor, ” said mayor of Lille Martine Aubry.
As a proud mayor of the city that is full of diversity and a mix of many origins, cultures, and great solidarity, Martine Aubry has put the social issues at the centre of her politics by demonstrating a commitment to collective progress that will further advance women’s rights and therefore the rights of all. (photo credit: wikimedia)
