“Locking her up isn’t loving her”: new campaign for international awareness day on 25 November 2025

Isabelle Rome et Céline Cottalorda ©Direction de la Communication – Stéphane Danna

The Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights has launched its new campaign to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Dubbed “L’enfermer ce n’est pas l’aimer” (“Locking her up isn’t loving her”), the campaign aims to raise awareness about coercive control, a pattern of behaviour designed to isolate, monitor and gradually confine a victim. It will also inform the public about the different types of help available to victims in Monaco.

Speaking alongside Isabelle Rome, who was in the Principality for a day of talks with the Committee, Céline Cottalorda explained what the new campaign was aiming to achieve. “We want to raise awareness among victims and abusers alike, and draw attention to the subtle and insidious nature of domestic abuse, which can have tragic consequences.” The Interministerial Delegate for Women’s Rights stressed the importance of shifting the perspective and looking at the issue from the abuser’s viewpoint. “This is not about stigmatising. It is about showing the gap that can exist between violent behaviour and the way the person doing it sees it.”

Isabelle Rome, the French government’s Ambassador for Human Rights and former Minister for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities, underlined the point: “Working with abusers is an essential part of public policy to tackle violence against women. It helps prevent reoffending and helps raise collective awareness.”

#BoiteNoire
The term “Boite Noire” or “Black Box” is a symbol illustrating the slow process of isolating a victim, and features heavily in the campaign:
• On posters displayed around the city and in the Fontvieille shopping centre.
• In an animated film told from the abuser’s point of view, showing how a romantic relationship can slowly turn into coercive control and escalate into violence.
The film will be shown on Monaco Info, and also on the Committee’s official website and social media pages. An English version will also be available featuring the voice of Toby Wright, Ambassador for Women’s Rights, to whom Céline Cottalorda paid tribute for his commitment to the cause and his contribution to the campaign.

Conférence de presse Comité Droits des Femmes ©Direction de la Communication – Stéphane Danna

Video competition for young people
To get younger people involved, a video competition was organised with the Department of Education, Youth and Sport, with high school students invited to make a short film of between one and three minutes, inspired by the campaign slogan, working either solo or in teams.

Their productions will be unveiled at an open evening at Lycée Rainier III on 25 November, at 6.30 pm. The event will send a strong message about coercive control and the importance of working together to eliminate violence against women.

Other events
To amplify the message about violence against women, the Committee’s partners are set to hold a number of other events on or around 25 November:

- On 24 November at 6 pm at the Stelios Foundation: Lecture on “The culture of virility and its human and financial consequences for society”, by historian and essayist Lucile Peytavin, organised by the Zonta Club;
- On 25 November at 12 pm at La Maison des Associations: Theatre Forum aimed at businesses on the theme “Overt and covert sexism: two sides of the same coin”, organised by the Monaco Women in Finance Institute;
- On 26 November at 6 pm at Lou Clapas: Lecture on “How to eradicate domestic violence” by Dr Julia Aumiphin and Nathalie Simonnet, organised by the CHPG;
- On 27 November at 6 pm at La Société Nautique: Theatre Forum for young adults, organised by the Club Soroptimist. Volunteers will be invited to take part in two short sketches depicting situations of inequality.

In addition, the Zonta Club de Monaco will be displaying awareness messages on public benches around the Principality, while the charities She Can He Can and Fight Aids Monaco will be running a campaign urging men to commit to stopping violence.

On 25 November, you can show your support for efforts to eliminate violence against women by wearing a white ribbon.

You can find the full programme and watch the campaign video at:
https://dfm.mc/evenement/lenfermer-ce-nest-pas-laimer/  

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