Alice Cordier (second from L) and fellow Collectif Némésis activists.
Photo: Hélène de Lauzun
Collectif Némésis is a French association that defends women’s safety in public spaces and women’s values in European civilisation. We spoke with its founder, Alice Cordier, about why she started the association, what it has achieved, and what frustrates her about the right wing when it comes to standing up for women’s rights.
The Collectif Némésis is a registered association that was founded five years ago, in October 2019, and was set up for two main reasons.
The first is sexual harassment. Almost all young women today are victims of it. The co-founders of the association, like me, have been victims since they were 12-13 years old: this was something we all had in common. The fact that this harassment was perpetrated by recurring profiles, namely men of North African or African origin, was our first point of reference.
The second reason for our commitment is the silence of feminist organisations on the subject. Mostly left-wing, they have been unable to respond to these issues and the violence we experienced. When you are treated like a piece of meat on the street from the age of 12 or 13, it is not trivial. It leaves a deep mark, even more so when it happens to your loved ones. In my case, it happened to my little sister, and that’s what made me want to do something about it.
I found this same desire in other young women, particularly through social media, Facebook at the time. I met other women who had also been confronted with this kind of violence and who had noticed the same total silence from feminist organisations about what they had been through.
We became aware of a ‘history of silence’: the Cologne rapes; the Rotherham case, which exploded a few years later but which we already knew about to some extent; and the Mila case[editor’s note: a young French woman harassed on social media for making hostile comments about Islam]. All these cases have accumulated. We realised that there was a problem within feminist organisations and that, depending on the type of violence, but above all on the profile of the perpetrators, we should always expect different media coverage. We didn’t want our friends, our sisters, and later our daughters to be victims of this code of silence, so we decided to give a voice to women who are not currently being heard or represented.
It’s important to understand this: we are filling a gap, not creating disorder. We simply want to bring another voice into the public sphere.
The cumulative effect has been very important for me and for the girls who have joined me in this cause. But there was one event that didn’t make much noise in the media but made a lot of noise in our little hearts and reawakened the ‘little flame’ that was dormant there. In July 2019, just before we launched Némésis, we learned about the rape of a young woman in Nantes, in her own garden, by a migrant. There was total silence from feminists and the media. Worse than that, I remember reading an article in the newspaper Ouest-France about the case. It was a double-page spread on the conditions in which migrants were being received, with barely three lines on the rape and a thinly veiled questioning of the victim’s account. This event left a lasting impression on me. I remember exactly where I was when I found out, what I was doing, and the anger I felt when I read that article in the middle of summer. I said to myself: this is the moment.
Absolutely.
Creating a movement from scratch is very complicated; you need sources of inspiration. There were several: the Génération Identitaire movement, but it didn’t quite represent what we wanted, and FEMEN, which had a big impact on our generation, being at all right-wing demonstrations to pass on their message. At one point, they became a force to be reckoned with in the public sphere. So I said to myself: now I want people to ask themselves on every occasion: will Némésis be there? Today, everyone is saying that and waiting for us. The goal is not to censor, but to show that there is a reaction and to create debate around a new idea.
Feminists are convinced that we are only there to protest against immigration and not to defend women. Today, we enjoy a high profile, and feminists don’t understand that.
They think women can be afraid on the street, but they don’t make the connection with immigration. For them, all men are guilty. They accuse us of minimising other forms of violence against women in favour of what is happening in the streets. This is not true: on our social media accounts, we monitor the news to highlight all forms of violence against women.
Five years ago, we weren’t listened to or represented at all, let alone protected. Today, things have changed a little, particularly in our relationship with certain elected officials. Take the case of Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau. Even though he publicly contradicted himself after admitting that he knew us, he knows what we do. The same goes for the police. We have a lot of supporters who are police officers on the ground, who pass on a lot of information to us. And then there are the high-ranking officers who don’t want to take any risks. This can lead to some crazy scenes. I remember an incident in Lille, for example, where we were arrested by riot police who made us sign autographs while they searched us, while the judicial police officer wanted to extend our custody.
Something similar happened with the media. We appear on certain TV shows such as CNews. Even Le Figaro gives us a voice, which wasn’t the case five years ago. On the other hand, there is still a lot of work to be done on the political front. Many politicians like what we do, but they would never admit it on TV.
Absolutely. For the past five years, we have been wondering every day how we will be attacked. A year ago, our bank accounts were closed in the middle of a fundraising campaign. We have had very targeted attacks on activists who have lost their jobs after being reported. We also have to deal with lawsuits, which are ongoing and extremely costly in terms of time and money. It’s another form of harassment.
We are proud to have a certain visibility in France. But our country is part of a continent, Europe, and we are convinced that it is in our interest to unite with other countries, particularly those bordering ours, which are facing the same problems. By uniting, we could really have a much greater impact on a European scale to create a real wave of so-called right-wing feminism, a conservative feminism.
We already have a branch in Switzerland that we are in the process of developing. We are now launching a branch in Belgium, where things are very complicated because the dominant left-wing media are hostile. But this is positive: it was the Left in France that made us known five years ago.
Our project is local: there is no question of sending French women to campaign in Belgium. We need to inspire people there.
As a French woman, it’s interesting to think that we have this ability to create movements that inspire enthusiasm abroad and encourage autonomy. We are a militant country, and not all countries are. Alongside these branches, we are also working with the British to create a joint think tank for activists and thinkers. The British are sometimes ahead of us—we saw this with the trans issue and the incredible results they achieved on it. These links give us hope, because we tell ourselves that we can turn back the clock.
The desire, absolutely. Time, a little less so. But we really want to take a long-term view. We are also here to reconcile the relationship between men and women, which is completely destroyed today, partly due to a number of feminist influences that are now pushing women to sometimes not even be heterosexual anymore because they are so afraid of men.
Having studied left-wing feminism extensively, there is a real separatist mindset that is no different from Islam, for that matter, about societies where men are dangerous to women.
As long as the Right is unable to answer these questions, we shouldn’t be surprised that left-wing feminist demonstrations are full of young girls who have no one else to turn to. When you were a teenager and were the victim of deviant behaviour by men who spent their evenings watching porn, the only people who responded to you were left-wing feminists who think all men are bastards. We shouldn’t blame young girls for turning to them. The real culprits are the ideologues and the answers they provide. Left-wing streamers and influencers have a way of explaining society that is so well-rehearsed and fluid that it imposes itself with the force of obviousness. On the other side, we are not yet able to respond. It’s a job that will take years.
After almost six years with Némésis, one of my greatest sources of pride is being able to hire girls who have sacrificed themselves free of charge, in the service of this cause. Today, we can work together, and I have been able to repay them in some way. Another source of gratification is being thanked in the street. Being able to meet people who feel represented by us is incredible; it’s an honour.
The slowness of society. How many more rapes, how many more tragedies will we have to wait for before we finally see quick and effective responses to broken lives? Will the 2027 elections provide an answer?
