The Minister Delegate for Citizenship in Strasbourg made a quick visit this Wednesday morning: arrival at the police station and discussions with the police on the taking of complaints from victims of gender-based and sexual violence , press point, stroll of about ten minutes in the streets alongside the mayor ... all in three hours flat.
Express timing like the organization of this trip by Marlène Schiappa to the Alsatian capital, announced the day before.
An arrival undoubtedly precipitated by the affair of this young woman of 22 years attacked, according to her statements, by three men in general indifference because she wore a skirt, in the middle of the afternoon of last September 18 in Strasbourg.
The alleged facts that the Minister for Citizenship commented on France Bleu Alsace this morning: “A woman is never hit because she wears a skirt.
She is hit because there are sexist, misogynistic and violent people.
Imagine the overwhelming mental load on a woman if she has to think about how to dress every morning.
"Before encouraging testimonies:" As soon as we see that a woman is hampered in her freedom of movement, that a man or a group of men tries to humiliate her, to follow her, I invite witnesses to contact the police or the gendarmerie.
"A short statement before dismissing the subject in front of the press, at midday, referring" to the ongoing investigation following the filing of the complaints of this student ".
“1,800 tickets have been issued in France in two years”
Marlène Schiappa, on the other hand, was much more discreet when taking stock of the law relating to sexist contempt promulgated in August 2018: “The Minister of the Interior and I asked the prefects to organize themselves to double the number of verbalizations for street harassment in the coming months.
It's complicated because for the offense to be established, there must be a flagrante delicto.
So far, 1,800 tickets have been drawn up in France in two years and 27 in the Bas-Rhin.
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A department where sexist outrages seem to be on the rise since the beginning of the year according to the findings of Alsatian victim support associations.
“There is not a problem of harassment specific to Strasbourg.
Speech is freed and denunciations also thanks to the work of social actors but also with the creation of groups on social networks, ”commented this morning the mayor environmentalist Jeanne Barseghian.
In her desire to encourage the lodging of complaints from victims, the elected representative will soon be able to count on the installation of a social worker within the Strasbourg Police Hall.
“Recruitment is underway for a post in 2021. Its role will be to improve the dialogue between the police and the victims at the time of the complaint and then to direct them towards associations.
Ultimately, 80 social workers will be deployed across the country, ”announced Marlène Schiappa.
A minister who praised the work carried out by local authorities against violence against women "with on-demand bus stops which could be inspired at the national level" but also "the training of the Strasbourg municipal police in order to better identify flagrant offenses in the event of street harassment.
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