Bonjour! I’m Diane de Vignemont, a freelance journalist based in Paris.
I write about politics, history, and gender-based violence for various publications, both in English (New Lines Magazine, Prospect Magazine, Jacobin Magazine) and in French (Libération, L’Humanité Magazine, Arrêt sur images, Causette Magazine, Têtu· Magazine, Retronews, France-Amérique Magazine…)
As a political and culture reporter, I am frequently interviewed by outlets like Democracy Now!, the BBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Al Jazeera, etc.
Lately, I’ve also been investigating the historical roots of obstetric and gynaecological violence, and two of my pieces on reproductive rights have been shortlisted for the 2025 FOLIO Eddie and Ozzie Awards.
I am a graduate of SciencesPo Paris, and hold a masters’ degree in contemporary history from the University of Oxford.
Check out my latest work, and send me tips here. I’m always open to commissions.
Highlights
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Liberty, Equality, Sorority — Finding Sisterhood at the Pelicot Rape Trial
New Lines Magazine, November 27, 2024
Gisèle Pelicot’s decision to make public the horrific details of her abuse has transformed her into a reluctant icon, galvanizing a movement of collective reckoning. The mass rape trial taking place in Avignon is not just a pursuit of justice; it is a crucible of solidarity and sisterhood. Read
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A Royal Veto Keeps Abortion Illegal in Monaco
New Lines Magazine, December 12, 2025
Women from Monaco may cross into neighboring France to obtain an abortion, as they have for decades, but within the borders of the Principality, the procedure will remain out of reach — prohibited not by medicine, lawmakers or public opinion, but by the monarchy’s religious architecture. Read
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Epstein’s birthday book and the girls with no names
Prospect Magazine, September 17, 2025
In all the noise about the (in)famous signatories of Jeffrey Epstein’s “birthday book,” we lost sight of what this book actually is. It is not a meme or a punchline or a political prop, but an artefact of the misogyny and abuse that very real girls—now women—lived through. Read
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The French Left Is United, Not for the First Time
New Lines Magazine, July 5, 2024
Just a few days after Macron’s explosive dissolution of the National Assembly, 25 parties on the French left chose unity, forming the New Popular Front to counter the risk of a far-right majority. But what, if anything, can be learned from the first Popular Front of the 1930s? Read
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At Your Cervix — The Medical Instrument Behind 135 Years of Women’s Pain
New Lines Magazine, May 24, 2024
In 1889, French surgeon Samuel Pozzi, inspired by an American Civil War-era bullet extractor, invented an instrument to ease gynecological exams and provide better care for women. Despite causing debilitating pain, it is still used worldwide 135 years later. Read
Diane de VIGNEMONT 