London - More than
220 000 women were sexually harassed on public transport in
France over two years, the national crime statistics agency said
in its first report on the subject, describing it as a
"conservative estimate".
The Harvey Weinstein scandal in the United States has
accelerated a rethink of attitudes toward sexual harassment in
France, a country that cherishes its self-image as the land of
seduction and romance.
"Although the public mostly focuses on domestic violence,
sexual violence committed on the street, on public transport or
in other public places is just as serious, and merits more
attention," the report said.
France's National Observatory of Crime and Criminal Justice
(ONDRP) found that 267 000 people – 85 percent of whom were
women – were sexually harassed on public transport between 2014
and 2015, including kissing, groping, flashing and rape.
It is the first time the ONDRP, which publishes an annual
survey on insecurity, has focused on sexual harassment on public
transport.
Paris was voted the third most woman-friendly city in a
Thomson Reuters Foundation survey published in October, and
ranked fourth least risky for sexual violence.
But harassment remains prevalent, many said on social media.
"I was spat at, called a whore ... and one morning groped by
two laughing men on a crowded metro," Siobhán Dowling said on
Twitter, describing her time in Paris as a student.
"The level of everyday harassment was shocking."
Sexual harassment on public transport was worst for women in
the Paris region, with reports of incidents seven times higher
than in the rest of the country, the study found.
Most cases of sexual harassment occurred when a train or bus
was moving so the victim could not flee, the study said.
"When you have closed spaces with hundreds of thousands of
people and zero security agents or police, it's no wonder that
cowardly perpetrators act in total impunity," Ikram Moustaoui
said on Facebook.
French women have taken to social media to share tales of
sexual harassment, outstripping the #MeToo campaign with a
name-and-shame hashtag #BalanceTonPorc - or 'expose your pig'.
French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled measures in
November aimed at educating the public and schoolchildren about
sexism and violence against women and improving police support
for victims. He also proposed criminalising street harassment.
France's gender equality ministry declined to comment.
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