It will be enough to pronounce the word “Maguelone” when entering a store of the device set up yesterday in Montpellier for the trader to call for help, if necessary. It is a question of fighting against street harassment and the feeling of insecurity. Nîmes had been the first city in Occitania to set up its own, Angela, a year ago, the results of which are judged “very positive”.
From sexist outrage to rape: Nîmes was, just a year ago, on March 8, 2021, the first city in Occitania to create such an information device accompanying the creation of a “benevolent network”. In a few days, 150 merchants joined the system. A real awareness. “And a very positive first assessment” (read below), according to Mylène Mouton, elected in charge of this device, baptized in Nîmes, Angela, of which Dis-Leur has already spoken to you HERE.
Already fifty volunteer stores in the Ecusson
The city of Montpellier follows suit. “In France, 86% of French women have been victims of at least one form of assault or sexual assault in the street during their lifetime, according to a study by the Jean Jaurès Foundation published in 2018”underlines the city of Montpellier which has also just set up an almost identical system, in partnership with the CCI of Hérault. “About fifty stores have already joined”, welcomes André Deljarry, its president.
“Street harassment, the feeling of insecurity in the city is a reality for a large number of women. However, the freedom to come and go, to dress as one wishes is a fundamental freedom”. comments the mayor and president of the metropolis, Michaël Delafosse. Who counts also soon “offer self-defense classes so that women learn to defend themselves and gain self-confidence. We are mobilizing all our energy to unite against this scourge and thus strive towards a more united and egalitarian city”.
We are slowly witnessing a degradation of the climate in Montpellier, which is not the only city concerned. It is time for politicians to take up the harassment of women…”
Jacques Emprin
The Emprin boutique, rue Saint-Guilhem has been an institution in Montpellier, from generation to generation. It is part of the device. Jacques Emprin puts it bluntly: “Incivilities, assaults, tramps, tags… It’s more than a feeling of insecurity. Yes, we are slowly witnessing a degradation of the climate in Montpellier, which is not the only city concerned. It is time for politicians to take up this issue of the harassment of women. It is important in a democracy”. He adds : “There are no shops without a city and no city without shops…” The CCI also has an application, Destination 34, in which a tab on the businesses participating in “Maguelone” can be installed.
One word for code: Maguelone
Each participating business is thus part of a network of refuge areas that can be geolocated and identified by means of a sticker affixed to the windows. Shopkeepers, on the other hand, will undergo training to know how to react, to know who to call in the event of harassment, which has moreover been punished by law for three years (below): a relative, the police… And the women who feel harassed will be able to take refuge there after having said the password: “Maguelone” which gave its name to the device. Although it is not mandatory, of course. By giving this code, the merchant knows exactly that it is a situation of harassment and will go so far as to call the police. It is also a way of telling potential aggressors that women must be able to move freely and without fear in our cities.
Maybe soon then Béziers and Sète
“We would like to go up to a hundred voluntary shops in l’Ecusson, the historic city center of Montpellier”, specifies André Deljarry. Where reigns, historically, an important delinquency. “We have three themes that are close to our hearts: safety, cleanliness and accessibility of car parks in town. When the mayor contacted us, we were immediately involved. Could other cities use this device? Yes, I am thinking of Béziers or Sète and later, why not, of Clermont-L’Hérault or Lunel.” To welcome these women, to understand their needs, to put them in safety, to provide them with assistance. Eventually, the “many facilities in the city and the Metropolis will also become refuge areas”.
The good results of the Angela system in Nîmes
In Nîmes, Mylène Mouton says: “In one year, seven women have been able to take refuge in a business, four of which are part of our system. The launch of our “Angela” device was not a one shot for International Women’s Day. It is meant to last. Already, it is spreading. Thus, to the approximately 150 shopkeepers who have already been made aware and trained, we have offered the same thing to the agents of nine of our municipal establishments open to the public: the Roman museum, the Nemosa swimming pool, and three social centers, etc.
72 municipal agents trained
A total of 72 municipal agents were also trained there. “We don’t expect any return on investment, if I may say so. It is an important service that we render. This device is not reserved for the city center but also for districts of the city policy. The elected official adds that she participated in a meeting on this subject with the services of Montpellier. And that she responded favorably to a request for “Meet this Thursday, March 10 with the mayor of Arles, Patrick de Carolis.”
When we arrived at the town hall, we were “inundated” with complaints from women and also men from the LGBT community for assault…”
Fatma Nakib, deputy mayor for women’s rights
Echoing this, Fatma Nakib, deputy mayor for women’s rights, explains that indeed, “The good results from Nîmes confirmed our plan to create this system. We were aware of other devices, in particular linked to smartphone applications, but often paying. However, women do not have to pay to feel safe. This Maguelone device is complementary to another application, Flag, with which we have signed a partnership and which is aimed more particularly at LGBT people.”
The chosen one confides again: “It was a good time too because there is no longer any confinement linked to covid and that delinquency, from the mouth of the prefect himself, has dropped by 40% in the city center and by 20% outside the city center. compared to 2020. When we arrived at the town hall, we were “inundated” with complaints from women and also men from the LGBT community for aggression… We wanted to do something useful.” “Maguelone” is promised to do “oil stain” to be extended to public establishments such as the Opera, the tourist office or the Corum.
A concept born in Great Britain in 2016
Béatrice Bertrand is the director of the CIDFF (Centre for information on the rights of women and families) in Gard. It replaces the initiative which until now was almost unique in France from the city of Nîmes. “This concept, Ask For Angela (from angel, who protects) was born in Great Britain in 2016. In France, the first city to experiment with it was Rouen in 2017, via a group of students. Then, there were only two other cities that adopted it: Caen and Reims. It was in the latter city that my daughter learned of an association, I For She, a branch of the UN Women, which had also participated in the deployment of such a device, specifies Béatrice Bertrand.
Other cities are interested in the device
And to add: “In Nimes (and Montpellier, Ed.the difference is that all businesses can participate, not just bars and restaurants like in other cities.” Today, she confirms the relevance of this concept: “In Nîmes, it works with the merchants that we have trained and made aware. And other towns in France are interested in our system: the CIDFF in Avignon or Lyon have already contacted me…”
86% of women say they have been harassed
Departmental delegate for women’s rights and equality in the Gard within the departmental directorate for social cohesion in the Gard, Sandrine Bonnamich reported last year that, “this national system had been created by Marlène Schiappa and that the 2018 law supplements violence against women with “gender contempt”. Certainly, in the Gard, we have counted, since 2018, only 12 sexist offenses, four in the police zone, 8 in the gendarmerie zone, but this is only the visible part of the problem; these are only the cases where it has been possible to establish a flagrante delicto. On the other hand, we know that it is a massive problem: 86% of women say they have been harassed and 100% of them in transport. Finally, 8 out of 10 women say they are afraid to move around at night. This is also why we have integrated taxis into this system.”
Street harassment punishable by law
Since August 3, 2018, street harassment (sexist insult) is punishable by law. And liable to a fine of €750, which can go up to €3,000 in the event of a repeat offence. Yet 55% of women say they have already been victims of insults in the street or on public transport and one in five of sexist insults in 2020. The Angela device was promoted by Marlène Schiappa, then Secretary of State in charge of equality between women and men and the fight against discrimination.
Olivier SCHLAMA
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Street harassment: In Nîmes, businesses are also refuges
