L’Oreal Paris: Stand Up Against Street Harassment

78% of women have experienced sexual harassment in public spaces. Only 25% of victims say someone helped. 86% of us do not know what to do when we witness it happening. Those are the findings of an international survey on sexual harassment in public spaces, conducted in partnership with Ipsos, researchers at Cornell University and L’Oreal Paris. This study investigates harassment on a large scale, through online interviews across eight different countries, representing a diversity of societies and cultures.

15,500 people of all ages were interviewed about their experiences of harassment on two levels – as both victims and witnesses. The results of the study confirm the brand’s determination to stand up for the self-worth of all women and counter street harassment in everyday lives. L’Oreal Paris and Hollaback! develop their bystander training programme: Stand Up Against Street Harassment.

On International Women’s Day 8 March, L’Oreal Paris launched the program Stand Up in five countries and will launch later this year in a further six countries, aiming to drive awareness of street harassment with a call-to-action on a global scale. From schools to public transport to festivals to online spaces, Stand Up will grow a global community of 1 million upstanders, trained in the 5D’s: Direct, Delegate, Document, Distract, Delay, the expert-approved bystander intervention training programme pioneered by Hollaback! Bystander intervention is the term for witness action to defuse situations and make public spaces safer.

“How many of us look the other way because we simply do not know how to help? We are partnering with L’Oreal Paris to train people around the world, men, women, of all origins and all generations in the 5 D’s, the simple tools they need in their everyday lives to first recognise and then to intervene. This partnership has the power to really transform this issue.  Together, we can end harassment to make the public space safe for girls and women,” said Emily May, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hollaback!

On its website and across social media, Stand Up will teach these 5 D’s, beginning with Distraction. The simple act of interrupting an incident by asking the time or pretending to be lost. By opening the public eye to the scale of harassment that women, in particular, experience, Stand Up aims to simultaneously discourage harassers, support victims and encourage bystanders to intervene. To overall effect a cultural shift in the global response to street harassment.

Living by its revolutionary “I’m worth it” tagline, L’Oreal Paris has multiplied brand initiatives to break down the barriers that prevent women from fully believing in and realising their self-worth. Leveraging its global reach, today the Stand-Up movement takes the brand’s support for women into the public space by tackling the intimidating behaviours that impact girls’ and women’s very sense of freedom to move through the world.

“L’Oreal Paris stands for empowerment in every walk of a woman’s life. By removing obstacles preventing women from fulfilling their ambitions, we are committed to elevating their sense of self-worth. With Hollaback! and other local NGO partners we invite women and men to stand up, to safely respond when they witness or experience street harassment. Together we can create a world for girls and women to march confidently forward into a world free from street harassment,” said Delphine Viguier-Hovasse, Global Brand President of L’Oreal Paris.

Stand Up Against Street Harassment went live on 8 March, with a second major awareness push during anti-street harassment week, starting 19 April.