In France, the vast majority of women have already experienced sexual harassment. Whistles, grave remarks, repeated requests to snatch a phone number… In 2018, a study showed that 86% of women had suffered a sexist or sexual assault in their life. To guard against this, women develop avoidance strategies. One of them ends up on the front of the TikTok algorithm in recent days, reports our colleague from France Inter.
This is the “Subway Shirt” or “metro tee-shirt”, in French. This practice consists of having a somewhat large T-shirt to put on over your outfit in order to use public transport in a more serene way. With the rise in the thermometer, women put on lighter outfits. But if the crop top in the sun is very pleasant, in the bowels of the metro, it can quickly become scary. In 2016, a study showed that one woman out of two adapted her outfit to avoid being harassed on public transport.
“Don’t forget your “subway shirt” when you go out”
On Tiktok, many young women show how they put on a loose shirt over their normal clothes. “To all my New York babies, don’t forget your ‘subway shirt’ when you go out”, launches for example this young woman, wrapped in a loose shirt. Because the Tiktok trend, viewed more than 5 million on the application, causes waves of support between women.
Many of them give each other advice on how to feel more secure, such as keeping their keys handy when they come home late at night or putting a cyclist up their skirt. The fact remains that clothes are, of course, never at the origin of the attacks that women suffer in the public space. Born in New York, this trend shows that in 2023, and despite the #MeToo wave, women still do not feel safe and free to dress as they wish. In 2022, SNCF and RATP set up an awareness campaign on the issue by encouraging people to call 3117 or contact 31 177 by SMS in the event of sexual harassment.