Campaign targets sexual harassment

A NEW campaign to highlight and tackle sexual harassment on public transport in France has been launched.

Posters and videos harness situations that confront women travellers and represent them on a metro line, with the stops becoming becoming increasingly violent.

The minister for women’s rights Pascale Boistard and for transport Alain Vidalies attended the launch of the «Stop, ça suffit» campaign which is being coordinated with the RATP and the SNCF.

Ms Boistard said the campaign was “To improve behaviour, so that no aggression is normalised or ignored. The aim is to give everyone the tools to take action.”

The posters and videos will be displayed in major towns, stations and buses and show phrases like “Mademoiselle!”, “You’re lovely”, “Is it for me that little skirt?” that gradually become more violent until “answer you dirty bitch”.

The campaign reminds people that various levels of harassment and assault can lead to five years in prison and fines of up to €75,000 and that they should be reported to 17 or 112 (114 for those with hearing problems).

From December 7 the SNCF emergency number 3117 will start to accept text messages, which are more discreet to send in difficult situations.

A report by the Haut conseil à l'égalité entre les femmes et les hommes delivered to the government in April found 100% of respondents had been sexually harassed on public transport at least once in their lives.

However the figure was subsequently disputed after it was revealed that the survey organisers had only issued around 60 questionnaires.