’Feminist diplomacy’: a new concept approved by 64% of French people

In the framework of its 2019 G7 Presidency, France has publicly committed to promoting ’feminist diplomacy’. Despite the potentially divisive nature of the word ’feminist’, 64% of French people approve (and 23% strongly approve) of this commitment to feminist diplomacy to promote women’s rights internationally compared to only 6% who reject the idea.

On closer view, this ’feminist diplomacy’ wins more support from women (71%) than men (51%), 30% of whom also say they neither approve nor disapprove.

Young people under 25 are also more supportive (71%) of feminist diplomacy than older generations.

Feminist diplomacy: a "neither left nor right" initiative, roundly applauded by center- and left-wing voters

France’s feminist diplomacy project receives the same high level of support from both left-wing and center voters (74%); 20 points more than for right-wing voters. Despite the clear political split in opinions with the right, however, it is clear that overall the idea remains popular with a vast majority of French people.

Again on closer examination, those who voted for Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the Presidential elections in 2017 are bigger supporters of feminist diplomacy (76%) than voters for far-left candidate Jean Luc Mélenchon (73%) and Benoît Hamon (65%). Interestingly, the far-right voters of Marine le Pen are not far behind (60%) and actually bigger supporters of the idea of feminist diplomacy than those who voted for mainstream right-wing candidate François Fillon (53%).

Further reading

Baromètre de la solidarité internationale n°5 - Les français·e·s, le G7 et les inégalités dans le monde

Documents to download

Baromètre de la solidarité internationale n°5 - Les français·e·s, le G7 et les inégalités dans le monde