
French Female Sportscasters Say 'Enough Is Enough'
Voice of America
Five years ago, Marie Portolano, then a sports journalist with Canal+, was taken aback when her colleague, the French channel’s veteran soccer pundit, lifted her skirt and allegedly grabbed her in front of a studio audience.
She slapped Pierre Ménès, but was persuaded later by colleagues and friends not to make a fuss, fearing that if she took the matter further, it might wreck her television career. But now Portolano and other female sports journalists are making a fuss — they say they’ve had enough of enduring routine sexual harassment, including being groped. More than 100 female journalists have gone public about the derogatory comments, lurid abuse and unwanted sexual advances they encounter every day — in and out of studios, on social media and in their meetings with sports stars. In an angry open letter signed last month, 150 female sports journalists complained of the routine sexism they endure, including being paid less than their male colleagues and overlooked for the top slots. “It is time for us, female sports journalists, to unite and put pressure” on the industry, they wrote. “We intend to hold the ground. It starts now.”
Local officials and navy personnel attend a joint Iranian, Russian and Chinese military drill in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 12, 2025. (Iranian Army Office via AFP) Chinese navy troops attending a joint naval drill with Iran and Russia stand on the deck of their warship in an official arrival ceremony at Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 11, 2025.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves as he arrives for Mauritius' 57th National Day celebrations at the Champ De Mars, Port Louis, Mauritius, March 12, 2025. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and his Mauritius counterpart Navin Ramgoolam pay homage after laying a wreath at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden during his State visit, in Pamplemousses, Mauritius, March 11, 2025. FILE - Sailors walk on the deck of the INS Imphal, a stealth guided-missile destroyer, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Dec. 22, 2023.

Police officers guard the Palace of the Republic after Bosnian prosecutors ordered the detention of three top Bosnian Serb officials over a series of separatist actions, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, March 12, 2025. FILE - Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, Dec. 29, 2023.