France's male politicians must end their sexist, lecherous ways, says a group of leading female political reporters.
In a petition titled Get Your Paws Off Me, published in Liberation, about 40 women said they had had enough of the "roving hands" and "lewd remarks" of male politicians and felt obliged to speak out. One described waiting in the National Assembly's Quatre Colonnes hall, where MPs issue press statements, to be told: "Ah, but you're on the game, hustling for a client." Another recalled an MP running his hands through her hair, because "spring is in the air", and a minister's adviser asking a journalist upon her return from holiday if she was "tanned all over".
Such behaviour crossed the political spectrum, they said, though they declined to name names. Other anecdotes included a "friend of the President" declaring that journalists are "much more interesting when they have big breasts". The journalists described text messages offering "info for an apero", late-night meetings or popping into a hotel "for a bit of fun". One official only kept his hands to himself after the reporter threatened to press charges for sexual harassment.
The petition was signed by 16 reporters from leading organisations including Le Monde and Le Parisien, Radio France International and Agence France Presse. A further 24 chose to remain anonymous.
