More soon, but quickly wanted to share that the first report on gender harassment and sexual violence on public transport across France was released today. It found that ALL of the more than 600 women surveyed had experienced it at least once in their life on public transportation. In half of the cases, the victims were minors when it first occurred.
“You ask a woman, ‘Have you been a victim of harassment or violence in public transportation?’ And she will say, ‘No, not at all’,” explains Elisabeth Moiron-Braud. “But then you ask, ‘Has a man ever pressed up against you or put his hand on your bottom?’ And she will say, ‘Yes!’”
Moiron-Braud is a lawyer who worked on the report for the High Council on Equality between Men and Women (HCEfh) which was presented to the deputy minister for women’s rights, Pascale Boistard.
It is aimed at tackling the range of sexual harassment and assault on public transportation, from catcalls at bus stops, to groping in the metro, to rape in train cars.
The report calls these behaviours “manifestations of sexism” which affect women’s rights to feeling secure, and which limit their use of public space and their ability to move around.
The challenge is identifying the problem. Catcalls can be considered by women and men as flirtation; groping is seen as so common as to not warrant a complaint.
“Women are used to it,” says Laure Salmona, of the Association Mémoire Traumatique et Victimologie, a victims’ rights advocacy group.”
High Council for equality between women and men plans to launch a comprehensive national campaign around harassment on buses, subways and trains next month. To my knowledge, France would be the first country to do this across the whole country!!
H/T Dan Moshenberg
