Man Fined $350 for Catcalling a Woman Under New French LawBy Hailey Middlebrook
Oct 15, 2018
If you’re a female runner, chances are likely that at some point on a run, you’ve been catcalled.
This sort of verbal sexual harassment takes on many forms: It could be a whistle, a shout out to your [insert body part here], or a lewd comment. While catcalling incidents are extremely common, they can be terrifying—and they’re rarely punished. So it caught our attention when a man in France was charged €300 (about $350) in late September for verbally sexually harassing a woman on a bus.
According to the New York Times report, when the 21-year-old woman boarded the crowded bus in a suburb of Paris, a male passenger who appeared drunk slapped her behind and began saying things like, “You have big breasts†and calling her a “whore.†The woman reported the incident to the bus driver, who called the catcaller out for his actions. The perpetrator put up a fight, hitting the driver.
Luckily, the driver called the police, and video surveillance was evidence enough to charge the man with verbal sexual harassment. Under a new law developed last year in France, committing verbal sexual assault—especially in public places, such as streets and public transportation—could be punished with a fine of up to €750, according to the New York Times. ...
Full story at Runners World
