PARIS
The French government on Thursday announced a nationwide campaign to counter sexual harassment on public transport following the release of figures showing the extent of the problem.
Earlier this year a poll of women in Paris showed 100 percent of those questioned had experienced some form of harassment on France’s buses, trains and metros.
The package of measures revealed by Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, Women’s Rights Secretary Pascale Boistard and Transport Secretary Alain Vidalies includes posters to remind passengers that harassment is illegal, a ban on sexist advertising and encouraging women to report harassment, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on its website.
April’s survey, conducted by the High Council for Equality, found that every one of the 600 women polled had experienced “sexual harassment or worse” on public transport in the capital.
The harassment ranged from insults, insistent flirting and comments on appearance to sex attacks and rape, the survey discovered. Six out of ten women said they were afraid of being attacked on public transport.
