L’Oréal Paris is back with Stand Up Against Street Harassment

In recognition of International Anti-Street Harassment Week (April 11-17th, 2021), L’Oréal Paris is reaffirming its commitment to Stand Up Against Street Harassment, in partnership with NGO Hollaback! and Breakthrough in India. The program, which was launched in November last year aims to train 1 million people by the end of 2022 on Hollaback’s 5D’s methodology, which trains the public on how to safely defend themselves and to help victims of street harassment. Building on an unprecedented partnership with Ipsos dedicated to examining the issue of street harassment globally, the brand has committed to an ongoing research initiative that studies and reports societal data on street harassment around the world on a consistent basis.

Delphine Viguier, Global Brand President, says, “International Anti-Street Harassment Week is a key momentum to rally together against street harassment, that has directly affected 1 in 3 women this past year – a startling figure given the condensed timeline and the locked-down situation. Stand Up against Street Harassment is an essential part of our effort to fight discrimination and ensure that anyone who experiences or witnesses street harassment is equipped to take action. At L’Oréal Paris, we are relentless in our commitment to breaking down barriers and to giving women the confidence and power to take the place they deserve in society”.

Adding to this, Pau Gruart, General Manager, L’Oréal Paris, India, said, At L’Oréal Paris our goal has always been to celebrate the true worth of women by empowering them to the fullest. We believe an act like street harassment is a significant obstacle to any person being able to truly feel empowered and self-assured, and in complete contradiction to what L’Oréal Paris believes. This International Anti-Street Harassment Week, we want to drive more awareness towards the issue, but also offer a safe and effective solution in the Stand Up training. Stand Up Against Street Harassment is our commitment to bring about positive change and a global bystander movement to reclaim public spaces and counter street harassment.

A NEED FOR EDUCATION AND AWARENESS TO STAND UP AGAINST STREET HARASSMENT

Some figures, drawn from across 15 countries among the world**, indicate the global expansiveness of street harassment: 80% of women have experience sexual harassment in a public space at least once in their lives**, with all respondents from all countries reporting a high level of exposure to these incidents (for e.g. 80% in the UK, 94%  in South Africa, 92% in Mexico, 85% in Thailand or 84% in Canada**).

The study also revealed 81% of those surveyed from India said there was a lack of training on how to intervene to put an end to sexual harassment; while 79% said that it improved the situation when someone had intervened.**

Despite the worldwide prevalence of this issue, misconceptions remain, and there is a need for more awareness around shame and survivors’ guilt: globally for 53% of respondents, women are sometimes to be blamed for situations of sexual harassment in public spaces due to their attitude, behaviour or appearance (55% men, 50% women) **.

Moreover, there is a need for education on how to safely react: globally, 86% of witnesses say there is a lack of training on how to intervene to put an end to sexual harassment in public spaces when they witness it. 33% of them also say that if they had known what to do, they would have acted**.

STREET HARASSMENT REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT ISSUE DESPITE THE PANDEMIC

With the context of COVID-19 ushering in social anxiety, an exclusive and global survey conducted by L’Oréal Paris in partnership with Ipsos found that concerns about street harassment remain significant*. Indeed, some breakthrough findings, drawn from across 14 countries among 14000 people, revealed that women have experienced a heightened sense of anxiety about public spaces: 75% of women avoid certain public spaces* to avoid sexual harassment, while 59% adapt their clothing and appearance when going out in public* and 54% avoid certain means of public transportation. *More broadly, 1 in 2 individuals say that they do not feel safe in public spaces*.

IN A LOCKED-DOWN WORLD, AN ATMOSPHERE OF APPREHENSION AND RISK IN PUBLIC SPACES

Additionally, with lock-down omnipresent in many countries, an atmosphere of apprehension has become the norm and added to the perception of risk: 72% of respondents think that wearing a mask allows the harassers to hide themselves and feel untouchable*. Perhaps most notably, the perceived risk corresponds to high number of respondents having witnessed at least one incident of sexual harassment in a public space since the pandemic: 42% in total*.

AN URGENT CALL-TO-ACTION: JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO STAND UP AGAINST STREET HARASSMENT

During the International Anti-Street Harassment week, L’Oréal Paris encourages everyone to join the Stand Up movement by getting trained in the 5D’s methodology on standup-india.com and also encourage others via social networks, with the 5D’s hand sign and the hashtag #WeStandUp

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