Paris: High School Students Protest Sexual Harassment

Hundreds of students at Pissarro high school protested last Thursday the prevalence of sexual harassment at the educational institutes.

One student commented to French daily Le Parisien: “The boy sitting beside me mimes sexual acts. They do not know what they are doing, for them it is just a joke.”

If girls point out the harassment, “they are just seen to be overreacting”, explained another student.

Protest organiser Shanley, 18, had spoke on Facebook about the harassment she faced and appealed her fellow students for help.

Students in response to her call students gathered outside the school gates for protests.

Shanley believes the teachers should be stepping in because “to say and do nothing is to tolerate this behaviour”.

A study by the French National Department for Education reveals that between 2016 and 2017, 2.1 percent of students surveyed reported to have suffered from sexual violence and 4.4 percent complained of harassment.