an anti-harassment application at the beach tested in Marseille
An application to alert in real time during a case of harassment has been in place since August 1 in Marseille on the Prado beaches. This is a first in France.
More than one in two women is reluctant to go to the beach alone. This is the result of a Yougov poll unveiled on Tuesday and carried out for the Bumble dating application. Insults, heavy flirting, mockery… In 2021, more than one in three women aged 18 to 34 have already been the victim of harassment on the beach.
For the first time in France, the city of Marseille has decided to test, on Prado Sud beach, the “Safer Plage” device, a free smartphone application to help victims in real time.
A few days ago, Viviane, a regular at Prado South beach, witnessed an assault.
“I saw an extremely disgusting phenomenon on the beach, a gentleman who was masturbating. Now that there is this application, I will use it, ”she says.
Hailed by associations for the defense of women’s rights
In case of problem, just click on the “ask for help” button. An alert is sent to the first aid station which warns the municipal police. Amandine has just downloaded the application. “That we are geolocated is still good even if we are at the other end of the beach, it is reassuring. We go to the beach with less weight,” she says.
Clara, her friend, also has “Safer beach” on her phone.
“In any case, I’ll have it in my phone just in case and I can contact someone because even if we’re between groups, we’re between girls and you never know if it’s a group of men this that can happen,” she explains.
This device was set up at the request of the town hall. Associations for the defense of women’s rights welcome this initiative.
“It’s a step forward. On a beach, we are in swimsuits so we are not dressed normally, I think we are perhaps more vulnerable, ”says Annick Karsenty, president of Femmes solidaires Marseille.
The application operates from August 1 to August 31 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The town hall aims to offer this device on all supervised beaches in Marseille for the summer of 2023.