L'Oréal France: The #StOpE to sexism initiative

Committed to the fight against all forms of discrimination and in order to enable ever greater inclusion in the world of work, the L'Oréal Group participated in a survey in France on sexism at work.

This study - which measures the perceptions and impact generated by sexism - is a concrete part of the commitments made by the Group when it signed #StOpE to so-called ordinary sexism in the workplace in 2018, an initiative of which L'Oréal is a founding member alongside EY and Accor Hotels.

The #StOpE to sexism initiative now brings together 114 organizations that are committed to implementing actions according to 8 points to quickly and effectively fight against ordinary sexism.

The 8th point is to acquire tools in order to : "measure and set up monitoring indicators to adapt the policy to fight against so-called ordinary sexism". In this context, L'Oréal and 16 other #StOpE member organizations, under the aegis of Brigitte Grésy, President of the HCE, have chosen to join forces with BVA to set up a barometer designed to assess the state of sexism in the workplace and to measure perceptions and the impact it generates. The objective is to have clear and quantified data on sexism in our companies, but also to identify avenues and levers for action in order to improve and combat so-called ordinary sexism in the workplace.

This barometer reveals that more than 8 out of 10 women consider that they are regularly confronted with sexist attitudes or decisions in the workplace. This is also felt by 65% of men. Ordinary sexism takes many forms: incivilities in meetings, recurring remarks or "jokes", questioning of professional or managerial skills or even professional discrimination. The consequences are multiple: 95% of women and 90% of men state that sexist manifestations lead to a drop in self-confidence and even destabilization of the person for 94% of women and 90% of men. So-called ordinary, latent and sometimes insidious sexism is a real source of suffering at work and an obstacle to career development. It is often observed that the stereotypes expressed through sexist remarks are at the root of inequalities between women and men. This is why it is necessary to act and improve in light of the results of this barometer.

In 2020 in France, L'Oréal's actions within the #StOpE initiative focused mainly on training in order to give all employees the same base of knowledge on ordinary sexism. We published an internal guide and e-learning on the subject in September 2020 with the aim of preventing and giving everyone the tools and methods to fight against ordinary sexism in the workplace. The guide has now been downloaded more than 700 times and more than 1,500 employees have taken the e-learning. The two tools were deployed internationally on March 8, International Women's Rights Day.