Under the title Stand Up Against Street Harassment, L’Oreal Paris in coordination with the NGO ABAAD Mena will start providing the Lebanese public with training on how to safely intervene when witnessing street harassment and how to safely act when experiencing it.
This comes as part of a global campaign by L’Oreal Paris to train 1 million people by the end of 2021. The training uses the 5D Methodology, a program to safely learn how to respond when someone is being a victim or a witness of street harassment.
It’s important to mention that this program includes harassment of all types and places and not just in the streets.
Ms. Samira Frangieh, the Communication Director of L’Oreal Paris in Lebanon, told 961 that L’Oreal had earlier conducted a survey with IPSOS and found that harassment is the main issue women encounter, whether at university, school, work, or in the street.
“Street harassment is a wide definition for harassment and not specifically sexual,” Frangieh told us. “It is defined as anything that makes the individual feel uncomfortable.”
The main goal of this program, as she explained to us, is to educate people on how to defend themselves without being subject to danger if they experience harassment and how to interfere in a safe manner.
The interactive training program includes visiting schools and universities across Lebanon to deliver live training for students, with the first station launching on November 24th at the American University of Beirut (AUB).
In order to reach as many people as possible, L’Oreal and ABAAD have developed a training online for those who cannot attend a live session, and where the full methodology can be learned in just 15 minutes.
L’Oreal Paris had launched its campaign worldwide in March 2020 in partnership with Hollaback, an international NGO that aims to end harassment of all forms. Back then, the campaign couldn’t be launched in Lebanon due to the pandemic.
Hollaback, the key NGO spearheading the campaign, has provided the required training for ABAAD Mena to properly train others.
It is to note that studies show that 80% of women are subject to street harassment, whereas 25% only said that someone had witnessed the harassment and actually helped them.
L’Oreal Paris and ABAAD encourage all women and men to join the movement by taking part in their digital training program at Stand Up International, with a 5D’s hand sign and the hashtag #WeStandUp.
It is worth mentioning that this campaign also assists those whose self-esteem and mental health might be affected as a result of any harassment attempt.
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