France imposes €90 fine for harassment

CAIRO – 6 March 2018: The French government has imposed a fine of €90 ($111.36) on anyone found guilty of harassment in the streets, according to AFP.

French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb clarified that the punishment will be implemented starting 2019.

Collomb added that the punishment comes within the framework of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to pass a new law aiming to end sexual violence and harassment in the streets; the law is due to be presented in the coming weeks.

Several French officials recently suggested imposing a fine instead of imprisonment; they considered harassment as an abusive and hostile behavior.

On January 30, hundreds of thousands of women gathered in Paris and other cities of France to protest against sexual harassment, following the scandal of U.S. film producer Harvey Weinstein, according to AFP.

They gathered in Place de la République upon an invitation launched on social media under the hashtag #MeToo.

French demonstrators, mostly women, waved banners reading “Justice for women” and “We do not want to remain silent”.

This hashtag has been used by millions of women around the world to share their experiences of sexual harassment on Twitter and Facebook.