Banks now forced to open an account for women: "It seemed so big to us, we were in disbelief"

Why vote for the obligation for banks to open an account in his name for a woman? Isn't that already?

This is one of the major brakes that prevents the extraction of women struggling with a situation of violence. This is what all the associations and experts who work on the subject tell us. In addition to the issue of children, that of the lack of financial autonomy is increasingly recurrent. It challenged us. A certain number of women, who receive retirement pensions or social benefits for stay-at-home mothers, do not have direct access to their income. It is paid into a single account in the name of a single beneficiary, in this case the husband.

But in what case could a bank refuse to open an account for a woman?

In France, there is an unsaid. People who benefit from social minima like the former bank bans are not people who will save, stock market or hoard. They do not interest the banks. After three or four refusals, they must go to the Banque de France, which orders an institution to open an account for them. The "poor" are distributed. Before, we used the Post Office, it is a public bank. It's more complicated today. This is why we wanted to mark out the route to financial autonomy.

How many people does this concern?

It's hard to quantify. These are several hundred thousand women. We realized that this is anything but a minor phenomenon. We initially thought it was a joint account with double checkbook and double bank card. This is not the case, otherwise the problem would not arise. We are faced with a capture of the income of the woman for the exclusive benefit of the person who has the signature on the account. This becomes dependent on the spouse. It is he who withdraws a sum for household expenses and sometimes grants "pocket money". But most often, the woman must bring back the receipts to justify the expenses. It seemed so big to us that at first we were incredulous. Some women find themselves under the influence of their spouse who may be violent. This becomes critical at retirement age. They find themselves assigned to residence in the most total isolation with a lower pension of 30% on average compared to men. Pensioners who are victims of violence find themselves in an increasingly painful situation.

The obligation is the same for social benefits and retirement pensions

It was not necessary to be interested only in women engaged in active life. But also those who are retired and stay-at-home mothers. Women who suffer violence in retirement is a scourge, they are more socially isolated than a working woman.

Is financial autonomy the prerequisite for getting a woman out of the grip of a violent spouse?

When a woman is offered to leave home, many obstacles prevent her from doing so. Finding accommodation is essential. But when you can't even afford clothes or hygiene products, your self-esteem is destroyed. These women have subscribed to a pattern of dependence under duress: I depend on him, he has the right to life and almost to death over me, he can beat me, give me money whenever he wants. Without financial autonomy, we cannot plan for the future.

Quotas to strengthen parity in the workplace

The law aimed at accelerating economic and professional equality includes a section on the presence of women in company management positions. Are planned reinforced quotas, a more restrictive calendar, the annual publication of the differences in representation between women and men...

Companies with more than 1,000 employees will have to have 40% of female managers in 2030, otherwise they will be subject to a penalty corresponding to 1% of the payroll. They will have two years to comply.