Fighting against street harassment and the (new) undesirables of public space

Mobilisations against street harassment and the recent favourable public reception of these long-standing claims need to be thought through in relation to the various ways gender violence in public space has been conceptualised during the last decades. Taking Paris as an example, this article emphasizes the fact that women’s safety, while long invisible and naturalised, is now thought of in relation to a new paradigm about public space, which needs to be proper and freed from populations considered undesirable. Taking an intersectional perspective, it underlines the link between such a favourable reception of gendered policies and larger gentrification processes.