Article written at the end of 2018 for Benivo, an HR Tech company which offers solutions for employees’ relocation and hires in foreign countries. This was thus, before the “Gilets Jaunes” protests.

According to the 2018 edition of the Global Peace Index, France is a country with a high state of peace. Although it is indeed a safe country, one could always use some advice to ensure their own safety when moving abroad.

How reliable is the french police?

First, few words of context. The french police force became a national entity in 1966. It is part of the Home Office, and led by the prefect of Paris. Its role is to protect the French Republic and its citizens. One can find a complete history on their website.

When it comes to the reliability of the police force, it varies from a “département” (subdivision of French regions) to another. In Paris, the efficiency of the police service has grown weaker in the past five years, while the level of delinquency in the capital has risen by more than 20%. These figures improve when going out of Paris.

Usually, if you wish to report a crime in France, you have the opportunity of doing so without struggling.

Physical assaults: women are (unsurprisingly) the first victims

There have been 130,000 reports of physical assaults in France in 2018. 75% of these reports came from women, victims of domestic violence.

It is interesting to note that, compared to 2017, 3,357 more cases of sexual assault have been reported this year, following the #Metoo and #Balancetonporc movements, which encouraged women to speak up about assaults that were previously unreported.

Robbery: another common form of aggression

Although the number of violent and armed robberies has gone down in the past years, pickpockets are present in urban areas (especially Paris). In 2017, there have been 110,800 thefts in public transportation (representing 15% of all thefts). Smartphones and high tech devices are what attract pickpockets the most.

To lower the risk, I would recommend to avoid walking in empty and dark areas of a city at night, and to keep your phone and valuable belongings at the bottom of a safely closed bag when you use public transportation. Ideally, leave as many valuables as you can at home.

Racial Abuse

The tolerance rate of french people towards foreigners and citizens of diverse ethnic origins – calculated each year by the national consultative commission on human rights – has been stable in the past years. French society is fairly tolerant, but has not eradicated racism.

People who come to live in France from the African continent and who are waiting to obtain French citizenship, are the main target of racial abuse. In 2017, the Home Office counted 950 acts described as racist, antisemitic and Islamophobic. This was an improvement compared to 2016, but the number of violent antisemitic assaults has slightly risen in 2017 and 2018.

When moving to a foreign country, know your rights. The french law condemns racial abuse, whether it takes the form of a verbal aggression, or that someone is treated differently because of their ethnicity, skin color or religion. Get all the information you need on reporting a racist aggression on the SOS Racisme website. Be aware of your surroundings and of the occurrences of racial abuse in the area in which you’re moving.

Crime

The majority of the crimes in France are committed in Paris, on the Mediterranean coast and in the North-East of the country. Here are some numbers:

• In 2017, reports of rapes and sexual assaults have risen by 12%. Sexual assaults are some of the most common crimes in the country, and affect women in domestic situations the most.
• Reports of fraud have kept on rising in the past years. There were almost 320,000 people targeted in 2017, mainly through internet.
• Physical aggressions (minus sexual assaults) have been rising as well but are fairly rare.
• Even though there have been less violent robbery reports in the past years, there were still 95,000 of them in 2017 (mostly in Paris, coming from and targeting young people). House robberies have risen in Bretagne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Corse.
• Homicides are rare. In 2017, 825 people were killed, mostly men between 15 and 45 years old. One can find more information on crimes here in english.

In response to these figures, here are two recent examples of initiatives that the french government has put in place to prevent and condemn crime:

Marlène Schiappa, the State Secretary for equality between women and men, proposed a law against sexual and sexist violence, that has just been approved by the National Assembly.

On the topic of pick-pocketing, some students and police forces have been trained to warn tourists in dangerous areas. They encourage them to be careful in public transportation or in front of expensive shops, mostly in Paris.

Safety tips

As in anywhere in the world, there are some things one can do to increase their chances of staying out of trouble.

Make sure to have a basic understanding of french laws, and to respect them. If you are a woman, be aware of your surroundings at night (yes this sucks, and I am 100% convinced that we should focus more on men’s education than on restricting women’s behavior in public spaces). Keep your valuables at home or with you in a safe spot.

What should you do in case of emergency?

If you are injured or witness a dangerous situation, call the 18 (firemen). They will ask you to confirm your location and evaluate the situation. In case of emergency, they will come quickly most of the time, even though they are often busy at night.

In case of an accident, if you can not reach the 18, try the 15 (french emergency services) or the 212 from anywhere in Europe.

To report a crime or a situation that feels unsafe to you, you can call the 17 (police force).
You can report a crime on the police force website as well.

Stay safe!