L'Oréal Paris triggers reactive emotions to the realities of street harassment with impactful social experiment
TORONTO, April 18, 2023 /CNW/ - After successfully launching their Stand Up Against Street Harassment training program on March 8th, 2020, L'Oréal Paris continues to break the cycle by empowering individuals to safely intervene when they witness or experience street harassment. In partnership with the brand's international NGO partner, Right to Be, L'Oréal Paris fuels a training program to teach individuals how to stand up when witnessing or experiencing street harassment.
80% of Canadian women have already experienced sexual harassment in public spaces. While more Canadians than ever before consider themselves feminists, only 6% have had someone intervene. L'Oréal Paris refuses to ignore this which is why they have been taking action to provide individuals with tools on how to safely react in situations where they are victims of or witnesses to street harassment.
"As the world's number one beauty brand, it is our responsibility to continue to stand up against street harassment in Canada, and we feel grateful to be in such a position to be able to elevate this cause to be our biggest priority on L'Oréal Paris." said Edouard Hottebart, General Manager, L'Oréal Paris Canada. "In collaboration with Right to Be, we are determined to help and encourage individuals to educate themselves on intervening or standing up in situations where harassment occurs. We are excited to launch the program in a big way with this stunt. It is only the beginning of our accelerated efforts for the program in Canada for 2023."
In anticipation of Anti-Street Harassment Week happening from April 16th - April 22nd, L'Oréal Paris Canada took to the streets of Toronto to conduct a provocative social experiment to promote a culture of respect, dignity, and worth. The brand installed posters highlighting misogynistic excuses for street harassment in high traffic areas featuring blame rhetoric that suggested women who dress certain ways or participate in certain activities are "Asking For It." Passersby were asked to rip down the posters if they did not agree with the messaging and when they did, they revealed a new poster underneath explaining that women are "Asking For It" to stop. The newly revealed poster also encouraged people to scan a QR code which led them directly to the Stand Up Against Street Harassment training initiative.
"As a brand, L'Oréal Paris has always been about more than beauty products and hair colour," Eva Longoria, L'Oréal Paris Brand Spokesperson says. "The slogan in itself, 'Because you're worth it,' is a daily reminder. It is a mantra to make sure, when you walk out your door in the morning, you check your value. I think this Stand Up training goes right along with that. That you are worth this effort for us to bring awareness to it."
L'Oréal Paris and Right To Be hope that this Stand Up initiative sparks a national conversation and inspires Canadians to take action against street harassment. Join the movement against combating street harassment and take the training here.
About L'Oréal Paris
L'Oréal Paris, the world's number one beauty brand, is dedicated to empowering women and men by offering the most luxurious and innovative products and services available in the mass market. For most, the name "L'Oréal" is immediately evocative of the brand's signature phrase, "Because I'm Worth It" - the tagline behind the legendary advertising campaign for the Superior Preference® hair colour launch in 1973. Today, it represents the essence of the L'Oréal Paris brand as a whole, a spirit which is about helping every woman and man embrace their unique beauty while reinforcing their inner sense of self-worth. For more than 100 years, L'Oréal Paris has held an unparalleled commitment to advancement in technology, innovation, and research, providing ground-breaking, high-quality products for women, men, and children of all ages and ethnicities in five major beauty categories: cosmetics, skincare, hair colour, haircare, and men's grooming.
Instagram: @lorealparis | Facebook: facebook.com/lorealpariscanada
About Stand Up
L'Oréal Paris launched the Stand Up Against Street Harassment program on March 8th, 2020, in partnership with Right To Be (formerly Hollaback!), an international NGO expert in the fight against harassment of all forms. Stand Up Against Street Harassment is focused on raising awareness about street harassment and training 2 millions people to Right To Be's 5D's methodology by the end of 2023. The 5D's methodology (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, Direct) are five simple and effective tools to help people safely intervene when they witness or experience street harassment. 97% of Stand Up trainees feel more empowered to intervene when witnessing street harassment compared to before taking the Stand Up training. To date, more than 1.5 million people have been trained with Stand Up across 42 countries.
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L'Oréal Paris and the NGO Right To Be have therefore joined forces to protect the self-worth of women and men, creating a set of proven tools to help people safely intervene when they are a victim or witness to harassment in public spaces.
Right To Be's 5D's methodology is an expert-approved set of tools to helps people safely intervene when they witness street harassment.
The goal of the Stand Up program is to train 1,500,000 people to become Upstanders and ultimately build a culture where street harassment is seen as unacceptable behaviour.
About L'Oréal Canada
L'Oréal Canada is a subsidiary of the L'Oréal Group, the world's leading beauty company, managing 40 iconic beauty brands. Celebrating 65 years in Canada, L'Oréal Canada operates a head office, a plant and a distribution centre in Montreal, and employs more than 1,450 people from 70 nationalities. Products are available across all distribution channels including hair salons, department stores, mass market, pharmacies, medi-spas, e-commerce and more. L'Oréal Canada's commitment to growth is generated through sustainable innovation and driven by the company's L'Oréal for the Future ambition which demonstrates sustainable development across the Group's value chain. The subsidiary also actively supports the L'Oréal Foundation's programs such as L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science and Beauty for a Better Life.
SOURCE L'Oréal Paris
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