Harassment in public transport: learning how to react without putting yourself in danger

A Lignes d’Azur bus parked at Place Garibaldi served as a training ground this Wednesday, September 16, on the occasion of the 4th edition of the “Reacting Can Change Everything!” campaign. Organized by the association Alter Égaux with the City of Nice, the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis and Lignes d’Azur, the activity confronts participants with harassment situations to teach them how to react without putting themselves in danger.

“Hey Marlène, are you doing well? How about a coffee?” On a bus parked at Place Garibaldi, in Nice, this phrase may seem harmless. Yet it is one of the solutions proposed to participants faced with a harassment scene.

This Wednesday, September 16, two women enact a situation of sexist and sexual violence in public transport. One approaches the other insistently, despite her refusals, asking for her first name, phone number, or Instagram account. Once the scene ends, participants are invited to reflect on what they have just witnessed. How to intervene? How far to go? And above all, how to act without putting oneself in difficulty?

Pretending to know the victim is one of the possibilities. By addressing the targeted person, the witness can divert attention and allow breaking the harassment situation without direct confrontation with the perpetrator.

88% of witnesses did not react

This role-play is part of the fourth edition of the “Reacting Can Change Everything!” campaign, led since April 2025 by the association Alter Égaux, in partnership with the City of Nice, the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis and Lignes d’Azur.

The objective is to respond to findings established during a diagnostic conducted in 2021-2022 in the transport networks of the Alpes-Maritimes: 88% of witnesses to sexist and sexual violence reported not intervening.

For Maëva Beauvais, prevention officer for sexism at Alter Égaux, this lack of reaction is explained notably by a lack of knowledge of intervention methods. When faced with a harassment situation, several questions can indeed arise: “Am I capable of reacting without putting myself in danger? Or am I legitimate to intervene? Am I responsible for intervening?”

The activity thus seeks less to impose a single reaction than to give witnesses concrete tools to choose how to intervene.

The “5Ds” for intervening without putting yourself in danger

To achieve this, Alter Égaux relies notably on the “5Ds” method: distract, document, direct, delegate and dialogue. These are five ways to intervene, depending on the situation, without necessarily exposing oneself directly.

The first consists of distracting, for example by diverting attention or pretending to know the victim. This is a way to break the harassment situation without directly confronting its perpetrator.

It is also possible to direct, by intervening verbally, or to delegate by enlisting someone capable of acting, such as a driver or conductor, but also by calling law enforcement.

Another possibility: document the facts. A witness can record the scene in order to transmit the images to the victim, if she wishes to take action. These images must however remain private and be transmitted only to the victim.

Finally, dialogue allows for exchange with the person concerned, particularly to provide support after the incident. The idea is especially to remind that being a witness does not necessarily mean exposing oneself directly. Several forms of intervention are possible, depending on the situation and what each person feels capable of doing.

Drivers also raised awareness

The program also concerns Lignes d’Azur drivers, who themselves face situations that may occur in public transport. The association continues its awareness-raising work among users and professionals in the network.

A new survey on sexism and violence in public transport is currently being conducted in the Alpes-Maritimes. Its results are expected to be presented on November 25, 2026, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

In the meantime, the message of this fourth edition remains simple: when faced with a harassment situation in public transport, reacting does not necessarily mean putting oneself in danger. It can also be a matter of diverting attention, asking for help or supporting the victim.