French local politicians face rising physical, verbal violence: Survey

PARIS

Violence against local politicians is on the rise in France amid the ongoing energy crisis and the way it is radicalizing political discourse, a new survey showed on Monday.

The study, conducted by the Paris-based Centre de recherches politiques de Sciences Po (Cevipof), indicated that the number of violent acts, physical and verbal, against mayors had risen significantly since 2020.​​​​​​​

While 53% of mayors said they had been victims of verbal aggression in 2020, that figure increased to 63% this year.

Among the roughly 35,000 mayors across the country, 37% reported being victims of insults and verbal abuse, while 39% received verbal or written threats, up 11% compared to 2020. At 27%, more than one in four mayors were subject to attacks on social networks or the Internet, according to the survey.

In France, the energy crisis has increased gas and electricity prices for municipalities by between 30% and 300%. The survey results showed that 35% of mayors said they were "very concerned" and 42% "concerned" about the rising energy prices.

While 90% of local politicians want to reduce the intensity or time frame of public lighting, 86% mentioned reducing heating in sports facilities and 81% agreed with reducing heating in municipal buildings.