Spotlight on France - Podcast: Fighting domestic violence, egg freezing, and the day Napoleon took the throne

Loading player...
The French government has announced new measures to tackle domestic violence and femicide. What will it actually change for victims? Also, how women in France will be able to freeze their eggs and take more control over their fertility. And the day Napoleon crowned himself emperor.

The French government announced a raft of measures and legal changes this week following a three-month "Grenelle" debate on tackling conjugal violence. While feminists are crying foul over the lack of additional funding, the issue is at least being taken seriously with an increase in places in shelters, specific training for police and potentially significant changes to the law. Lawyer Catherine Le Magueresse talks about some of the key points that could encourage more women to come forward and take care of them when they do. (Listen at 0:16)

Women in France are having children later in life, but since fertility drops after the age of 35 it makes it more difficult to get pregnant. The technology exists for women to freeze their eggs when they are younger and use them later when they're ready to have a child. The procedure is illegal in France, but the new bioethics law slated for 2020 could change that.  In the meantime doctors like Michael Grynberg are willing to bend the rules. We report from one of his consultations in a hospital near Paris. (Listen at 12:34)

And in this week's date with French history we take you back to 2 December, 1804 when Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself emperor of France. It was the ultimate move for this self-made man, who managed to make himself a royal, five years after a bloody Revolution ended the monarchy. (Listen at 8:41)

Spotlight on France is mixed by Julien Magouarou.

Subscribe to the Spotlight on France podcast on iTunes (link here) or Google podcasts (link here).
28 Nov 2019 English South Africa News

Other recent episodes

Podcast: Fighting drug crime, France's military service, (re)wrapping the Pont Neuf

What France can learn from Italy's fight against the mafia as it tackles its growing problem with drug-related organised crime. A look at France's new military service. And wrapping Paris's oldest bridge, 40 years after it was transformed by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The recent murder in Marseille of 20-year-old Mehdi…
4 Dec 32 min

Podcast: Civil liberties vs terrorism, Pelicot trial revisited, the Pascaline

A decade after the 2015 Paris terror attacks, France continues to pass security laws, sometimes to the detriment of civil liberties. A feminist journalist's take on the Pelicot mass rape trial. And the auction of the Pascaline, one of the world's earliest calculators, is halted. Immediately following the Paris attacks…
20 Nov 29 min

Podcast: Brigitte Macron, lauding open-air markets, France's Brazilian colony

How French media silence helped false stories claiming First Lady Brigitte Macron is a man to go viral. The unsung praises of France's street markets, which bring people together around buying and selling food. And France's short-lived colonial foray into Brazil.  False claims that President Emmanuel Macron's wife Brigitte is…
6 Nov 31 min

Podcast: Gazans in France, saving and spending habits, the Republican calendar

France recognises Palestinian statehood but evacuations from Gaza are still suspended. French savings are at an all-time high, reflecting uncertainty about the future. And the story of the ten-day week put in place after the French Revolution. Evacuations from Gaza to France were suspended on 1 August after a Gazan student…
25 Sep 32 min