France's plan to allow on-the-spot fines for cat-calling, harassing women
France's gender equality minister has a plan to help crack down sexual violence and harassment. A new law banning harassment and cat-calling of women on France will allow on-the-spot fines.
Proposals from Marlene Schiappa include instant fines for catcalling and lecherous behaviour in public. The 34-year-old pilots the legislation because she believes it is “completely necessary.”
Schiappa, a feminist and supporter of French President Emmanuel Macron, told La Croix newspaper (in French) that the idea is that society as a whole redefines what it is acceptable or not. On Monday, she told RTL radio that the French bill was "completely necessary because at the moment street harassment is not defined in the law- we can't currently make a complaint.”
When asked about drawing a line between flirtation and harassment, Schiappa replied, "We know very well at what point we start feeling intimidated, unsafe or harassed in the street.” She also provided examples like when a man invades a female’s personal space "by talking to you 10, 20 centimetres from your face" or follows her for several blocks.
Under her plans, which were announced on Monday, a team of politicians will work alongside police and magistrates to establish what sort of behaviour amounts to sexual harassment. A cross-party taskforce composed of five MPs is expected to help with a definition of harassment that can be enforced by officers on the streets.
As for the level of fine, Schiappa assured that it is part of their discussions. She said the symbolic value of laws that outlaw street harassment is great. Schiappa is new to national politics and was best known for setting up a network of working mothers before joining the centrist party, BBC notes.
The bill will also reportedly include provisions like lengthening the amount of time women have to lodge complaints of sexual assault dating from their childhood as well as toughening laws on sex with minors. The bill will be voted on by MPs in 2018.
Feminist organisation Osez le Feminisme’s Raphaelle Remy-Leleu told AFP that she hopes social tolerance will decrease after people become more aware of sexual harassment. Recent allegations against Harvey Weinstein have prompted women and men around the world to share their own experiences of sexual harassment using the hash tag “me too.” In France, people have been using #balancetonporc, which roughly translates as "rat on your dirty old man" to encourage women to name offenders.
