In 2023, VoxPublic is stepping up its support for civil society in the face of attacks on associative freedoms !

Sanction-cutting of subsidies, administrative dissolution of an association, offence of solidarity against people helping exiles and the most precarious, abusive applications of the contract of republican commitment... Since 2017, VoxPublic has been supporting associations attacked by public authorities and actively participating in the collective dynamics against the decline of associative freedoms.

Since 2017, VoxPublic has successfully accompanied Genepi - an association of students working with people deprived of their liberty - to overturn the decision of the prison administration to reduce the subsidy granted for years to enable the association to carry out its missions with people deprived of liberty. This political and financial sanction came after the association had launched a communication campaign and organized a demonstration denouncing the conditions of life in prison.

In 2018, VoxPublic, thanks to the support of a consortium of European foundations (Civitates project), participated in the creation of The Coalition for Associative Freedom with twenty partner associations that all had one thing in common : having been the object of attacks from the government, its administration, or local elected officials. Another common point animated them : the will to stick together to better face these attacks (see their « survival guide »). The Observatory of associative freedoms, led by social scientists, reinforced the Coalition’s missions in order to produce reports objectifying this phenomenon of obstacles to associations.

Since 2020, VoxPublic has individually supported other associations targeted by administrative and political attacks aimed at restricting their ability to act. This is the case of the anti-corruption association Anticor threatened by the Minister of Justice with the withdrawal of its approval to act in court, allowing it to bring civil actions in political and financial cases. It is also the case of the Fédération nationale solidarité femmes accompanied by VoxPublic to cancel the governmental project of putting in competition, via a public market, the management of the number « 3919 - Violences Femmes Info ». These two campaigns were major successes for VoxPublic and its partners.

Defending associative freedoms against authoritarian temptation

In 2021, the defense of associative freedoms crystallized around the opposition to the law reinforcing the principles of the Republic (known as « law of separatism »), promulgated in August 2021. This law is also qualified as an « anti-association law » because it facilitates their administrative dissolution and frames their freedom of expression and demonstration too strictly. Justified in the name of « anti-terrorism », this law also discriminates against Muslims or people considered as such.

This « separatism law », which is now in force, obliges associations that request financial or material support from the public authorities (access to public facilities) or even approval, to sign the « Republican Commitment Contract » (CER). This restricts the possibilities given to associations to act and make their voices heard. Indeed, any activity suspected of being contrary to « republican values » and public order - a legal framework subject to political and personal interpretations - can lead to the withdrawal of a grant or approval from the State, the administration or a local authority. In the target of this law : associations defending the rights of Muslims, the environment or for the reception of exiled people - among others. The reasons ? Not having sufficiently « demonstrated its willingness to promote secularism » for example, having organized a workshop on non-violent civil disobedience or an unauthorized food distribution assimilated to a disturbance of the public order.

This issue of attacks against civil society is now at the center of the concerns of French associations, especially with the mobilization of the Mouvement associatif, the largest French association grouping, with which VoxPublic had the opportunity to collaborate and which continues its fight against the CER.

Over the years, and alongside its partners, VoxPublic has developed specific expertise in crisis management, media support, legal and political strategy and consulting to strengthen the internal resilience of organizations in the face of shocks and crises. In 2023, it will continue to put these skills at the service of associations so that they can defend their freedoms in a democratic space that is preserved and protects them.