Well I never, or ça par exemple, as our friends across the Channel say. The French government has announced that it is considering banning wolf-whistling under a new law, proposed by women’s minister Marlene Schiappa.

Under the suggested legislation, any man spotted whistling or being “aggressively lecherous” to women on the streets from Paris to Provence could be slapped with an on-the-spot fine. Finally: street harassers will be treated with the severity of someone riding the Overground without a valid Oyster card or ticket!

President Emmanuel Macron – who has previously said that he “[wants] to be recognised as a feminist by women” – has presented the ban as part of a broader effort to clamp down on sexist male behaviour in public places in France. Extra community police officers would be sent out to patrol the streets on the lookout for men behaving badly, Macron said, while a group of French MPs has been tasked with creating a definition of what constitutes harassment.

“At the moment street harassment is not defined in the law,” said Schiappa, according to The Telegraph. She added that the size of the fines hadn’t yet been decided – but added they wouldn’t be so high that offenders could refuse to pay.

“France banning wolf-whistling is a good start – but it’s not enough”