L’Oréal Paris stands up against street harassment

When we see someone drop something or fall over in the street we instinctively step in to help. Why don’t we have the same reaction when we see someone being harassed? 

Most of us want to do something to help but don’t know what to do or how to go about it. There is the fear of danger – the person may be aggressive or a threat to one’s personal safety. We might even think that it is none of our business.

A call for action

In a 2019 Ipsos survey conducted in eight countries, 78% of the 15,500 women interviewed claim to have been harassed at least once. Only 25% said that someone intervened.

L’Oréal Paris has decided to take action. Why? Because L’Oréal 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. Harassment not only affects women physically, but mentally too. No form of aggression should be taken lightly.

Hollaback! 

To ensure the success of the campaign, L’Oréal Paris has partnered with Hollaback! a NGO dealing exclusively with street harassment, and has decided to promote the 5D’s Method.

The 5D’s Method   

The 5D’s stand for :

Distract the perpetrator

Delegate by asking some help

Document the harassment

Direct by speaking up

Delay by comforting

Hollaback! is a global leader in the movement to end harassment. They started as a blog launched by youth to share personal experiences of harassment quickly turned into a global initiative. Hollaback! works in communities to understand the problem, ignite public conversations, and develop innovative strategies that result in safe and welcoming environments for all. Hollaback! has trained over 20,000 people how to intervene when they witness harassment. Its intervention method, based on the 5D’s has been effective, lowering sexual violence on American campuses by 17%. For more information on Hollaback!, go to https://www.ihollaback.org/. 

In-house and external campaigns 

 In November 2019, L’Oréal Paris launched an in-house campaign to train 100 % of the people working for the L’Oréal Group – women and men – to intervene safely and successfully if they experience or witness this type of situation.  

On International Women’s Day, L’Oréal Paris has now taken the campaign outside the Group and on to the street. The Stand Up program has been launched already in five countries and will be r in a further six countries by the end of the year. 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, Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, a method which is simple, safe and effective. 

By opening the public eye to the scale of harassment experienced by 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.

[1] Ipsos – International survey on sexual harassment in public spaces – L’Oréal Paris – April 2019.