Instagram-Video
“I was ashamed”: Veronica Ferres talks about sexual harassment
– Veronica Ferres explains sexual harassment on Instagram © Britta Pedersen/ / Picture Alliance
–
–
Sexual harassment taboo: Veronica Ferres spoke about her own experience with it in an Instagram video. And with the help of two activists set an example against it.
–
Veronica Ferres stands at the Viktualienmarkt in Munich. It’s actually a harmless place: The downtown square is known for its diverse food stalls. Especially on weekends, people from Munich like to romp around here, drink a beer or a glass of sparkling wine after shopping. But for Ferres, the market also arouses negative feelings. Because the actress was sexually molested here.
She now tells this in an Instagram video for which she met activists Julia Tokic and Sofija Pavlenko from “Catcalls of Munich”. The two women collect on Instagram the stories of women who have suffered so-called “catcalling”.
“Tonight you play a great role for me”
“That means sexual harassment of women using words on the street,” explains Ferres. She and the activists go back to the place where Ferres was sexually harassed to make a statement. Ferres was shopping at the Viktualienmarkt when a man approached her. At first she thought he was a fan. “But then the saying came,” recalls the 55-year-old. “I’m finally getting to know you personally. I’ll take you home with me. Tonight you play a great role for me,” the stranger said to her.
Ferres was overwhelmed with the situation, felt bad and found it difficult to concentrate on her purchases. “I was ashamed. But I had no reason to be ashamed. This a **** hole should have been ashamed,” says Ferres.
The three of them draw the sentence on the street with chalk, roughly where it fell. With a photo of it, Veronica Ferres becomes part of the community of women who make their stories anonymously public on Instagram. “It just shows that it happens to a lot of women and that it is a general problem and not that of an individual,” explains Julia Tokic.
The aim of the project is also to make other people aware of such incidents. “So that more people step in and say: This is not okay,” said Sofija Pavlenko. Veronica Ferres is happy to have attended. “The whole burden is gone,” she says. “I feel strengthened. I think that’s called empowerment.” The video is also very well received by her followers on Instagram. “Thank you for this great and important contribution,” it says, among other things.
–
