Samira Bellil (24 November 1972 – 4 September 2004) was a French feminist activist and a campaigner for the rights of girls and women. Bellil became famous in France with the publication of her

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

book '' Dans l'enfer des tournantes'' ('In the hell of the "tournantes" (gang-rapes) in 2002. The book discusses the violence she and other young women endured in the predominantly North African and Arab immigrant outskirts of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where she was repeatedly gang-raped as a teenager by gangs led by people she knew, and then abandoned by her family and friends. The book is available in English (translated by Lucy R. McNair) as ''To Hell and Back: The Life of Samira Bellil''.

Life

Bellil was born to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n parents in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. Her family migrated to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and settled in the

ian suburb of

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.< ...

. Her father was jailed almost immediately for murder and she was fostered by a family in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

for five years, before being called back to her parents. As a teenager Bellil rebelled against the traditional constraints of her community and wanted to live freely as a young French woman. Samira was gang-raped when she was 14 by a gang led by someone she knew. They beat her and raped her all night. A month later, one of the most violent attackers dragged her off a train by her hair while other passengers looked the other way. She was brutally raped by him again. She did not report her rapes until two friends told her the same gang had sexually assaulted them too. Samira appealed to the French legal system to prosecute her attackers. The ring leader was sentenced to eight years in prison. Bellil's parents, who believed themselves shamed by her presence, expelled her from her house as she did not practice 'modesty' and chose not to veil herself with a hijab.The Guardian, Obituary
"People outside the community don't know," Bellil wrote, "and everyone in the community knows, but they won't say anything." Eventually, she found a psychologist who helped her. She had years of therapy, and describes how she decided to write her book to show other young women gang-rape victims that there was a way out. "It's long and it's difficult, but it's possible," she wrote in the dedication - to "my sisters in trouble". She used her real name and put her photo on the cover. She dedicated the book to her "girlfriends, so that they realize that one can overcome the traumatic" and to Boris Cyrulnik, her therapist. Her experience shocked

and forced the government to look into the issue. She became a youth worker. She died aged 31 on 4 September 2004 of

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

''Ni Putes Ni Soumises''

Bellil helped found a young women's activist group called

Ni Putes Ni Soumises Ni Putes Ni Soumises (which roughly translates as ''Neither Whores nor Submissives'') is a French feminist movement, founded in 2002, which has secured the recognition of the French news, press and the National Assembly of France. It is generall ...

("Neither whores nor submissives") which has publicly addressed the issue of violence against young women in France. The group drew the attention of the French and European press as they organized marches and press conferences to bring attention to the tragic events happening to young women in the banlieue of France. She denounced the gang-rapes (known as ''tournantes'', or "pass-arounds") and described how she overcame both her traumatic experiences and the need for revenge.

Legacy

She was chosen as one of the new

Marianne Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed i ...

s, the new faces of France. Her portrait hangs outside the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

. In 2005 a French school in l’Île-Saint-Denis was named in her honor
Ecole Samira Bellil

References

External links

CBS News: Article on Samira Bellil

BBC News: France in shock over gang rape

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20051123230346/http://www.mariebrenner.com/articles/daughters/daughters.html Vanity Fair: Daughters of France, Daughters of Allah
Newsweek: Sexism in the cités

Studies on the Phenomena of Tournantes

"Tournantes : un phénomène international" French study on the tournante phenomenon in several countries, zipped pdf file

'No surprise' over group rape findings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellil, Samira 1972 births 2004 deaths Algerian emigrants to France French activists French women activists People from Algiers French women's rights activists 20th-century Algerian women writers Algerian writers Deaths from stomach cancer in France Sexual abuse victim advocates Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Gang rape in Europe Violence against women in France 20th-century French women Algerian writers in French