Violence against women: when posters disturb

It is at nightfall that Michèle Eschallier and other feminist gluers, as they call themselves, usually meet in the streets of Roanne. As far away as possible from passers-by and surveillance cameras, they start their poster campaign.

This panel is the only medium authorized for free display. If the 64-year-old gluer challenges the mayor, it is because he asks her to pay 1,070 euros in damages and reimburse in particular the 9 hours of cleaning that it would have taken two municipal agents to remove these three collages, last December. She deems the bill expensive, for glue and paper.

I know it’s uneven to stick on walls, I know sometimes there are fines, but I was expecting 100 euros, 150 euros, not a bill over 1000 euros to clean the walls of the city

Michele Eschallier

at the eye of 8 p.m.

This is the first time that the municipality has requested financial compensation for uncontrolled posting. So is Michèle Eschallier undergoing unjustified treatment? The mayor, for his part, believes that this sanction is in no way a political act: “we treat everyone the same way, but it’s simply the first time we’ve been able to identify with video surveillance”.

If in principle the wild posting is liable to a fine ranging from 35 to 1,500 €, rare are the municipalities which decide to file a complaint against the authors of these feminist collages. Some are even openly tolerant, like Paris or Montreuil, in Seine-Saint-Denis.

Here the city councilor is proud to support their fight: “We informed the police station, I signed a letter from the mayor indicating that these gluers were welcome in Montreuil”.

After reviewing the file, the Roanne prosecutor decided not to prosecute Michèle Eschallier for degradation, considering that the offense was not sufficiently characterized. Contacted, the mayor affirms that he will study all the recourses so that the invoice is paid.