Statues of women with discolored breasts, the new symbols of the campaign against sexual harassment

Touching too much makes us worse. This is what a new campaign by Terre des femmes, a German association fighting for women’s rights, based in Berlin, highlights. For several days, banners have been placed behind various female statues, whose breasts are discolored. “Sexual harassment leaves its mark”, we can read there. Among the works of art on purpose are several statues of Juliet Capulet in Munich, Rain’s wife in Berlin and Youth In Bremen. The discoloration of the bronze at chest level is due to the phenomenon of oxidation, which itself is caused by the contact that the hands of tourists pass over the bodies of these ladies. For Sina Tonk, head of the Terre des femmes project, interviewed by BFMTV, these caryatids bear witness to “several decades of sexual harassment”.

Touching without consent

These degraded statues will also represent a whole system. Because for the feminist activist, who points out that 2 out of 3 women in Germany experience sexual violence in their lifetime, these sculptures specifically highlight “what they experience every day”. “In our society, it is not uncommon for women’s bodies to be touched or kissed without their consent. If these traumatic experiences do not leave visible traces, like the discoloration of statues, they leave invisible traces. This is what we wanted to emphasize,” he continued to our colleagues. As a continuation of this campaign, each poster has a QR code that allows online access to all the work carried out by the association, including full descriptions and videos. The campaign was launched in April in the country to condemn sexual harassment.

Bust of Dalida

However, Germany is no exception. In France, the statues are humiliated by passers-by. In particular, the bust of the singer Dalida (died 1987), which was unveiled in Montmartre in 1997. An important stop for tourists, her golden chest shines far more than her face today. Furthermore, the statue, similar to the fictional character Molly Malone in Dublin, has also been mutilated at the level of her neck.