“ We’ve never been so bananas “ on the fight against violence against women than under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, denounces the singer Lio in an interview with AFP, denouncing a “ bankruptcy “ of the State in the face of this “ hell ” that she herself has gone through. “ Money is needed, the associations really need it to help women through this horror. “, stresses the 62-year-old, who is on the bill for the concert against violence against women organized on November 27 at the Adidas Arena by the Women’s Foundation.

“ That would greatly compensate for the bankruptcy of the state, which doesn’t want to see anything. Personally, I’ve never felt so bananed by a government as I do by Macron. How can you make such a big deal out of nothing? It seems crazy to me. “, launches the interpreter of the 1980s hit Banana Split and Brunettes don’t count for shit.

Committed to the issue for decades, the artist does not mince her words in the run-up to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25. “ For society, a good woman is a dead woman, I say that with all the pain in the world, she declares. We’re never heard until it’s too late, and everyone’s sad when we’re dead, even though we’ve sounded the alarm so many times before. “.

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“ Double punishment “

“ I’ve been through it and yet I’m a white woman, I was privileged, I was known: it’s been hell. It’s been hell “she hammers out, referring to the domestic violence inflicted by her ex-husband in the late 1990s. Her voice breaks. “ So, I don’t dare imagine what women go through who are really left alone, sometimes in a very conservative, very masculinist family, really, even in greater danger than me “.

“ Mine was in ’99. And I didn’t see anything move. Sorry, but I didn’t see anything move. What I did see moving was women “she concludes. “ It’s slow but you can’t give up, because despite everything, it vibrates and moves. ” “ Every vibration cracks “ the wall “ and one day it’s going to fall apart. Maybe I won’t see it, maybe my grandchildren will, maybe my children will, so it’s worth it. “.

Like the feminist associations, which estimate the annual budget needed to effectively combat violence against women at 2.6 billion euros, Lio considers the measures taken in recent years by successive governments to be “a step in the right direction”. “ insufficient “. “ Feminicide continues unabated “, she observes. And “ when a woman is raped and has to confront her attacker, it’s a double penalty, which means that women give up and accept that it’s reclassified as assault. They take the 10,000 francs and then it’s downhill from there, because it (the money, editor’s note) doesn’t repair the damage. “.

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“ Demolished “

The singer, who revealed earlier this year that she had been raped at the age of 10 by a member of her family, confesses to being “ damaged “ and “ demolished “since she succeeded in putting “ the right word “ on what happened to him as a child: “ Rape “. She admires the “ new generation of girls “ which manages to put “ words about words “. “ What’s it called? Where does it come from? They’re all armed when it comes to construction, and that saves time. “ and “ a strength too. Naming is very important, it’s like a rebound. It doesn’t do everything, but it does a good part of the job. “

Nearly twenty years after speaking out live on television against the “ romanticization ” of the Noir Désir singer Bertrand Cantat, who killed the actress Marie Trintignant in 2003, the Belgian-Portuguese singer says that her stance on the subject “ have caused damage “ professionally. For lack of “ record company support “, she launched a fund-raising campaign last year to finance her next album. As for Bertrand Cantat, whose band recently announced the release of a new album, Lio warns: “ If there are demonstrations in front of concert halls, I’ll support them. And if I’m in the area, I’ll come. “