Women are increasingly unsafe in French buses and trains, with law enforcement releasing figures that show there has been an 86 percent increase in victims on public transport in the last ten years, according to the National Observatory on Violence against Women (Miprof). This increase is largely due to the role of foreigners committing such cases.
In terms of sexual assault, women are the victims in 91 percent of all cases, according to the survey from the Ministerial Statistical Service for Internal Security (SSMSI). Of those victims, 75 percent of them are under 30, and 36 percent of those them are minors.
In 2024, there were 3,374 victims of sexual violence on public transport, which is 6 percent more than 2023, 9 percent more than 2022, and 86 percent more than 2016. An incredible 44 percent of the victims were in the Paris region, which is located in Île-de-France, as reported by Le Figaro.
It should be noted that this data comes at the same time that France’s migration population has exploded, with 63 percent of those arrested for sexual assault and 92 percent for petty theft in public transport being foreigners, according to data from 2019. Similar data is seen in Germany, where 59 percent of all sexual assaults on German trains are attributed to foreigners, with sexual crimes doubling since 2019.
“While most violence against women is committed by members of their close circle, the fact remains that public spaces, and particularly public transport networks, remain places where women are exposed to sexist and sexual violence as soon as they enter them,” notes Miprof Secretary General Roxana Maracineanu.
The survey also shows that seven out of 10 women who live in the Île-de-France region have already been victims of sexual violence during their lifetime.
In addition, 56 percent of women said they were scared to ride public transport in the Ile-de-France (Paris) rail network, while 80 percent admitted to being on alert, according to the study.
As Remix News has reportedly numerous times in the past, women are routinely sexually harassed on European rail networks.
“The fact that a woman or girl changes her timetable or her journeys for fear of being attacked should make us question the freedom of access of all citizens to the public transport service,” said Maracineanu.
However, what these statistics do not cover are the random acts of violence increasingly seen against both men and women on French public transport.
For example, just two weeks ago, a Sudanese illegal migrant was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after trying to push a young woman onto train tracks in Paris.
This attack comes amid increasing concern over the disproportionate role of foreign nationals in violent crimes on public transport. According to a 2023 report by the SSMSI, the statistical bureau of France’s Interior Ministry, 69 percent of violent robberies, assaults, and sexual attacks in the Île-de-France transport network in 2022 were committed by foreign nationals.
The attack today is almost identical to an incident in July 2023 when a 40-year-old Guinean migrant pushed a 52-year-old woman onto the tracks at the RER B Cité Universitaire station, resulting in her death.
Notably, European left-wing parties are increasingly looking to increase ridership on public transport to combat climate change, but their policies of open borders are one of the factors that are making women increasingly afraid to use public transport.
