Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

‘This is my daily life on public transport’: Video of man masturbating on Paris Metro stirs anger

A video taken by a woman of a man masturbating on the Paris Metro has been viewed over a million times and judging by the testimonies of other female commuters the incident might be shocking but not that rare.

Published: 19 December 2018 11:50 CET
'This is my daily life on public transport': Video of man masturbating on Paris Metro stirs anger
Photo: AFP

The video was posted by a young woman on Twitter on December 12th and has since been viewed more than 1.3 million times.

The clip shows a man sitting opposite her repeatedly rubbing his genitals. 

“This is my daily life on public transport. A week doesn't go by without something like this happening. I'm not even exaggerating,” wrote the 20-year-old women named Safiétou on Twitter.

“This time I wanted to film it to show how bad it is.”

She then encouraged other women to come forward and share their own stories to highlight the problem of sexual harassment on transport.

“Girls, if you have ever been the victim of sexual harassment on public transport, please share your story below this tweet. Don't hold back, tell everything and we'll see who is who,” she said, encouraging women to share the “dirty” faces of the harassers.

The account echoes those of many women who told The Local of their experiences of being groped and pestered on the Paris Metro.

Her tweet was retweeted over 35,000 times and it received 2,000 comments many from women who had experienced sexual harassment on transport.

“You did the right thing. It happens all too often. If the family of this man recognizes them then it would be the perfect punishment,” replied one woman.

“When it happens to me I say in a loud voice or sometimes scream: 'Beware ladies there is a groper or exhibitionist on board'” so people look at him.

Encouraged to take her video to the police the young woman lodged a formal complaint and prosecutors in Paris have now opened an investigation into the incident. The incident echoes the case of a French lieutenant who was caught masturbating on the Paris Metro earlier this year.

A 2017 survey shows just why the tweet prompted such a response.

At least 267,000 people, mostly women, were sexually abused on he public transport in France over a two-year period, the study revealed.

The study by France's official crime data agency ONDRP also shows that 44 percent of these people suffered “several acts of the same nature” including forced caresses, sexual exhibition and intimate touching and this is considered to be a “low estimate” of the situation.
 
The statistics are a reminder that despite the wave of revelations seen in 2017 across France following the allegations of the sexually predatory behaviour by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, there's still a lot more to be done.
 
Earlier this year France brought it a new law that punishes sexual harassment in public spaces.
 
The new law allows for on-the-spot fines for behaviour including comments on a woman's looks or clothing, catcalling, intrusive questions, unwanted following and “upskirting” — taking pictures under a woman's dress without her knowing. 
 
 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

New app aims to protect women in France against sexual harassment

An app to help protect women against sexual harassment in the streets is now being rolled out across France after a successful trial in Marseille.

Published: 10 August 2020 14:59 CEST
New app aims to protect women in France against sexual harassment
Photo: AFP

The Garde Ton Corps (protect your body) app was developed by yoga teacher Pauline Vanderquand in the southern French town of Aix-en-Provence after she and her friends experienced harassment and assaults on the streets.

She told French newspaper Le Parisien: “It all started with a personal story. I was followed in the street, I asked for help at an institution and they wouldn't let me in. A little later, a friend was assaulted. I got really fed up, the next day I started the app project, too many stories of harassment were coming back to me.”

After help from the police and mairie (town hall) in Aix she then expanded the app to Marseille, where 20,000 people downloaded it in in the week of its launch in March.

Lockdown then delayed her plans, but the app is now available across France to download on Android, and will be available for iPhones later in August.

READ ALSO The 8 smartphone apps that make life in France a bit easier

 

The app has several functions.

The first 'I'm going home' allows users to transmit the geolocation of your route home to trusted people in your contacts book, using the phone's location services.

The second 'help me' is for use in an emergency situation, if there is a problem a pre-loaded alert message is sent via test-message to selected contacts in your address book, giving your location and the amount of battery left on your phone.

For those in selected locations there is also the 'safe places' option, which gives a list of establishments, usually bars, that have partnered with the app offering themselves as a safe space where women can go if they are being followed or harassed in the street.

Pauline has already partnered with several establishments in Aix and Marseille and is now working on getting Paris bars signed up to the app, helped her by ambassador in the area Anita Mas.

Bars or other establishments register themselves with the app as a 'safe space' and users can then find the nearest safe space to them in case of problems.

The app is free to download but bars and other partners pay a fee to register themselves, which goes towards helping the development of the app.

Amokrane Messous, manager of the Le Mondial bar in the 10th arrondissement, is one of those who has signed up.

He said: “The concept is interesting because in this neighborhood, after a certain time, there are security problems. Some people may feel uncomfortable. For women, it's a real plus to know that they can find a safe place.”

READ ALSO Is France the home of romance or a place of rampant sexual harassment?

 

Street harassment is a long-standing problem in France, with public transport a particular problem.

A study in 2017 showed that at least 267,000 people, mostly women, were sexually abused on public transport in France over a two-year period.

In 2018 France brought it a new law that punishes sexual harassment in public spaces.

The new law allows for on-the-spot fines for behaviour including comments on a woman's looks or clothing, catcalling, intrusive questions, unwanted following and “upskirting” – taking pictures under a woman's dress without her knowing. 
SHOW COMMENTS