It seems strolling through the halls of government can be just as upsetting as walking down the street for women in France because of the sexual harassment, workplace discrimination and gender-based violence they experience there. And until recently, silence was preferred over the stigmatization that often went with going public. That appears to be changing. Seventeen French female ministers of government from all political sides have decided that they aren't going to keep quiet any longer. Under the slogan of “We will not be silenced”, they have condemned sexism in French politics in an open letter. One of the reasons that propelled the women to speak out were revelations made about the behavior of Denis Baupin, an elected minister from the Europe-Ecology – The Greens party, before his resignation in mid-April. A total of eight women from that party told news outlets France Inter and Mediapart that Baupin had subjected them to sexual harassment. Baupin denies the allegations, but nonetheless submitted his resignation as deputy speaker of the National Assembly. Elen Debost, assistant to the mayor of the city of Le Mans and member of Political Party Europe-Ecology – Les Verts (The Green Party in France), reported that she had received nearly one hundred harassing text messages from Baupin, while Europe-Ecology – Les Verts minister Isabelle Attard said she also received dozens of messages from Baupin before leaving the party. In a message published May 9, 2016 on digital documents hosting site YouScribe, Debost explained the reasons which pushed her firstly to keep silent and then to publicly condemn the humiliation she was subjected to. Her post has received more than 35,000 reads and has been re-posted and commented on by a number of other sites.. She said Baupin's elected position offered certain powers which enhanced his ability to do harm: Le 11 mars dernier je découvrais une photo où 8 députés masculins, paradaient, barbouillés de rouge à lèvre en soit disant soutien, à la journée internationale des droits des femmes. Parmi ces 8 hommes, figurait le député Denis Baupin, prise de nausée j'ai vomi. Pourquoi cette nausée? Automne 2011, un peu en amont des désignations internes des candidat-es aux législatives sur les circonscriptions “réservées”, Monsieur Baupin m'appelle pour me demander de le soutenir lors du vote interne de notre motion pour la désignation des candidat-es. J'accepte, flattée… S'en ai suivi plusieurs mois de harcèlement sexuel, par SMS. Des messages à caractères sexuels, des avances, des propos obscènes. L'image de cet homme barbouillé de rouge à lèvre est comme un crachat, une provocation à toutes ses victimes, un “regardez bien comme je vous emmerde”. Cette image provoque la nausée, elle démontre le sentiment d'impunité et de toute puissance qui est le sien. On March 11, I discovered a photo in which eight male ministers were parading around, smeared in lipstick, supposedly in support of International Women's Rights Day. Among these eight men was Minister Denis Baupin; suddenly nauseous, I vomited. Why it makes me feel so nauseous? In autumn of 2011, somewhat snowed under from internal appointments of candidates to parliament in “special” districts, Mr. Baupin called to ask me for help during the internal vote for our motion for the nomination of candidates. I accepted, flattered…soon to be followed by several months of sexual harassment by text message. Messages of a sexual nature, propositions, all obscene. The image of this man smeared in lipstick was a spit in the face, a middle finger to all his victims. “Take a good look as I'm pissing you off.” This image provoked the nausea, because it demonstrated the feeling of impunity and all the power he holds. In no political party are women safe from such harassment. Not long after, Roselyne Bachelot, former minister in the right-wing government during the Jacques Chirac's administration from 1995 to 2007, revealed in an interview in the weekly journal l’ Événement du Jeudi, that “sexism is without a doubt the most shared trait between political parties.” This is not something Aurore Bergé is going to deny, either. Indeed, this elected official from Yvelines, a member the Républicains party, published a message on Facebook, just hours after the revelations about Baupin went public, revealing an experience she had at a meeting. Her post was titled “A scene from everyday political life“: Je suis accueillie par un “quand je te vois, j'ai envie de te faire une Baupin.” J'ai passé la journée à lire les témoignages de celles qui ont osé parler. A les relayer. Et à espérer que cela participe à changer les comportements. Et je me trouve navrante dans mon incapacité à réagir.