Belgium/Mouscron: actors call out to passers-by to raise awareness of street harassment

"Witnesses, react!" This is the injunction of the street harassment awareness campaign run by the City of Mouscron. Since Monday, posters have been put up all over the town and on TEC buses, inviting the public to say "stop" to this problem.

As part of this campaign, the "Mouscrobes" improvisation troupe is staging street harassment at various locations in the city, to appeal to passers-by. The aim of these improvisations in the public square is to give advice to the people of Mouscron so that they can react appropriately if they witness street harassment. " Doing it in a safe, theatrical setting means they can make mistakes, and when they're actually confronted with a harassment situation, they'll know what to do," says Catherine Colliez of Les Mouscrobes.

For their part, Mouscron's peacekeepers are handing out key rings fitted with an anti-aggression alarm. Leaflets with questions on street harassment are also distributed: "They take the form of a questionnaire to detect harassing behavior," explains Pierre Pollet, prevention officer with the City of Mouscron. This enables people to realize that they may have behaved like a stalker at some point, even if they didn't mean to."

Organized in April, at a time when outdoor events resume, the campaign aims to encourage collective awareness of the problem. According to a survey published in 2023, 95% of women say they sometimes feel unsafe on the streets in Belgium.

Source: www.rtbf.be/