A football club gives away sanitary pads and puts security guards in women’s bathrooms to prevent sexual assaults

Furthermore, that same day ESTAC put into operation a surveillance service in the women’s toilets in the Aube camp.

ESTAC de Troyes—a city located 180 kilometers southeast of Paris—is a professional club that plays in the Second Division (Ligue 2) of France. It is part of the City Football Groupgroup led by Manchester City and to which also belongs Gironaand it is precisely from the English parent company that an initiative arises that, according to ‘Le Parisien’, they want to progressively implement in all their teams.

The objective of these initiatives is to fight against behaviors that have no place in the stadium. According to Laura Bettex in the Parisian newspaper, since the beginning of the year there has been an increase in cases of security guards whose security searches end in complaints of sexual assaultattacks on women by drunk fans and inappropriate gestures during celebrations, in stadium bars or in the stands after a goal in the stands.

Furthermore, there is no shortage of sexist comments to female spectators who have difficulty finding their place in the stadium such as “your place is not there, it is in the kitchen” or “You can come and sit on my lap if you want, there’s room!”

«It may seem trivial, but it is not. A woman comes to watch the game just like a man and she doesn’t want to hear that, we no longer accept it,” Bettex insists.

The ESTAC is the club with the highest percentage of female spectators in French professional football. Specifically, and according to a study published by the League in 2023, 27% of fans compared to a national average of 17%. “It is an important issue that is part of the protection of people, in particular minors and the most vulnerable,” explains Mathias Barbera, communications and marketing director of the Troyes team.

“This policy was implemented by the City Football Group in each of its 13 wholly or partially owned clubs. Under the direction of a specialist unit in Manchester, every employee and educator now receives appropriate training. In particular, QR Codes have been installed throughout the stadium, in the administrative headquarters and in the training center, to send a questionnaire anonymously and immediately to the referees,” publishes ‘Le Parisien’.

“There can be problems every day, whether with a boy who has had too much to drink, with visiting fans or with our own, or even with the stewardesses who can get angry,” he anticipates. Mathias Barbera. «Some facts are light and require simple dialogue. Others can trigger complaints.

A firm stance that the club applied through individual sanctions to players (fines) and fans (up to 18 months of commercial suspension from the stadium) involved in the launching of smoke cans during the match between Troyes and Valenciennes (May 3, 2024) at the Aube stadium. “But also defending a player in their electronic sports section, victim of sexist comments by a commentator,” adds ‘Le Parisien’.