France Starts Investigation of Sexual Harassment Cases in Ecole Polytechnique, Reports Say

PARIS (Sputnik) - The prosecutor's office in the French city of Evry opened an investigation after the results of a survey carried out at the prestigious Ecole Polytechnique revealed that about 23% of female students had been sexually assaulted at least once since the start of their studies, French news agency France Inter reported on Thursday.

According to the news service, the university published an online questionnaire in January-February and it received over 2,000 responses. About 23% of female students who took part in the survey said they had been sexually assaulted at least once since the start of their studies at the university. A total of 11 students, 10 of whom are women, indicated they were victims of rape or attempted rape. Another 40 people (7.7% of the women surveyed) said they had a sexual act without their explicit consent.

A preliminary investigation for "rape," "sexual assault," "attempted rape and sexual assault" has been launched after a report made by the management of the university.

The Ecole Polytechnique is a famous French institution of higher education, specializing in engineering, located in Palaiseau, a southern suburb of Paris.