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North Charleston / flickr (CC by 2.0) | Remix by Max Fleishman

Female journalist sexually harassed during live broadcast

The police are looking for suspects.

 

Gabe Bergado

IRL

Posted on Feb 6, 2016   Updated on May 27, 2021, 6:24 am CDT

A female journalist in Cologne, Germany, was reporting on-air about sexual assault when she was groped during the broadcast.

On Thursday, RTBF reporter Esmeralda Labye was live on television covering the Women’s Carnival. That’s when three men behind her began making inappropriate gestures. One man kissed her on the neck and another whispered obscenities into her ear. Another grabbed her breast.

CNN reports that Labye said, “As I was waiting to wrap up my live, one of the three men touched my breast. At that moment, I lost my temper. I turned and told them in English: ‘I won’t allow this to happen twice! Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me.'”

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RTBF, which is a CNN affiliate, has decided to not re-broadcast the footage. But they have posted two still images with the men’s faces intact. Police are searching for the suspects.

Cologne has already been on high alert after numerous sexual assaults were reported on New Year’s Eve.  

This isn’t the first time a female journalist has been harassed while on-air: BBC reporter Sarah Teale was reporting on sexual harassment when someone shouted sexual obscenities at her in September 2015. 

H/T CNN | Photo via North Charleston/Flickr (CC by 2.0) | Remix by Max Fleishman

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*First Published: Feb 6, 2016, 3:52 pm CST