Safer Plage is an application tested in Marseille to fight against harassment at the beach.
More than one young woman in three has already been confronted with such a situation.
For now, the app is being tested on one of the city's 21 beaches, with the ambition of rolling out the system for next summer.
“Oh, you if I had known you, I would call you yum yum”.
Mathilde hadn't arrived at the beach for an hour with Adria and Leïla, her two friends, before the remark flew.
“The problem is not so much that they try to talk to us without being asked, but that they don't hesitate to make direct remarks on the physical.
They are too comfortable,” adds her friend Adria.
“It sucks to be a woman.
We feel vulnerable,” continues Mathilde.
A few moments after this discussion, here we are again, the young man in question who, with a friend, comes to spread out his towel one meter from that of the young women.
Sighs.
According to a survey carried out by Yougov in the summer of 2021, 46% of young women aged 18-24 have already faced harassment, and nearly 36% of those aged 25-34.
Thus, 55% of them say they hesitate to go to the beach alone, out of fear.
In fact, “the group effect is reassuring”, abounds Laurène, who came to sunbathe, precisely, with two friends.
"Here, things are still going well compared to the Old Port in the evening, or even to Paris", where the three young women are from.
Make women feel a little more comfortable and safe
On the Prado beach, the largest in Marseille and located in the south of the city, the town hall is testing an application to try if not to stem the phenomenon, to make women feel a little more comfortable and safe.
“A city that calls itself feminist must be a safer city for women.
It is our responsibility to do something, ”explains Nathalie Tessier, the elected Communist of the Printemps Marseillais, in charge of women's rights at the town hall.
It was she who piloted this project, the idea of which was born during the Marsatac festival, which took place at the beginning of June in Marseille.
“The festival organizers realized that women could be harassed, harassed, or even more.
So, for the 2022 edition, they had called on the creators - from Marseille - of the Safer application ”,
rewind the chosen one.
“And we thought it was a good idea to put in place for the summer”.
During the festival, more than 3,000 downloads of this application took place.
Neither the city nor the creators now wish to communicate figures on the number of reports made.
“An old guy sat down next door and started touching himself…”
Its operation is simple: It geolocates you and you enter your telephone number.
There are then three alert levels to press.
I am embarrassed, I am harassed and I am in danger.
There is also the possibility of intervening as a witness.
As soon as one of these “buttons” is pressed, the information is sent to the first aid station on Prado beach where there are municipal police and lifeguards.
“A team then comes to pick you up immediately,” explains Nathalie Tessier.
For the time being, and if all the young women met found the idea excellent, the information of the existence of this application did not turn out much.
None of the people I met had heard of it.
Discreet posters have been posted on the beach huts, made to change and teams of feminist associations are present twice a week to do prevention and try to publicize the device.
This will have to be extended to all of the city's 21 beaches next summer.
If this application is a curative device, young Marseilles, installed a little away on the rocks of the dike, have found a preventive parade.
"Clearly, if we settle here, it's to avoid these situations", note Margot and Elisa.
“But even there, sometimes there is a shlag that comes.
Two weeks ago, for example, an old guy moved in next door and started touching…”, says the young educator from Marseille.
“These applications must develop,” they say.
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