Harassment of women on the street is a global scourge and to fight this menace one needs a global approach. In this regard, L’Oreal Paris launched Stand Up, its international training programme to drive awareness on street harassment with a call to action.
Actor Aditi Rao Hydari, who is the brand ambassador of the French personal care brand in India, called out for collective action against street harassment and urged one and all to take up the training programme. Aditi who has undergone the training says, “The training is not only relevant, it’s essential. I am so proud to be a part of this initiative; proud of my brand family. It’s not just for women but men too. I did the training and I feel more empowered now. During the training, I realised how simple and effective it is. It will fill you with a sense of purpose and make you realise that you have the power to stop it. You are filled with ideas that with simple 5 D’s - Distract, Delay, Document, Direct and Delegate, it’s so simple to combat street harassment. The world needs it.”
An international survey on sexual harassment in public spaces, conducted in partnership with Ipsos, researchers at Cornell University and L’Oréal Paris, reveals that 78% of women have experienced sexual harassment in public spaces, only 25% of victims say someone helped them, 79% said it improved the situation when a witness intervened. These startling statistics led to the need to launch Stand Up for women to reclaim public spaces and break down the barriers that prevent women from fully believing in and realizing their self-worth.
This programme aims at training 1 million people in India in bystander intervention to tackle street harassment by 2022. It is being implemented with the help of Breakthrough, a pan-India organisation working on domestic violence and discrimination against women.