A women’s rights campaign group is organising marches and protests in a bid to retake streets in predominantly Islamic neighbourhoods which they say have become entirely male dominated. La Brigade des Mères, which is aiming to restore gender equality in France’s troubled ‘banlieues’, says women in many communities are now too scared to go out because gangs of young men rule the streets. And a shocking undercover report, compiled by the TV channel France 2, shows how women are not welcome in bars and cafes in Muslim majority areas, with many men openly hostile to their presence in public at all.

France2/Twitter Some areas of France have become no go zone for women, according to a report

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Pascale Boistard, the women’s rights minister, declared: “There are now areas in our country where women can no longer go.” The disturbing revelations come at a politically sensitive time for France, which will hold presidential elections in March in which far-right leader Marine Le Pen is expected to perform well. Attitudes towards immigration have hardened in the country following the devastating terror attacks in Paris and Nice, with the Front National poised to capitalise on people’s fears about the erosion of French identity.

France2 A report by France 2 highlighted the impact of Muslim migration on communities

France 2 Nadia Remand and Aliza Sayah, from La Brigade des Mères, were not welcome in a Paris suburb

Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, the niece of party leader Marine, immediately pounced on the reports as evidence that the Republic’s fiercely guarded secularism is being supplanted by Sharia law. For the report two brave women from La Brigade des Mères wore button-hole cameras and headed alone into the Muslim majority Paris suburb of Sevran, which was at the centre of the French capital’s 2005 race riots. Nadia Remand and Aliza Sayah visited the streets and cafes of the notorious banlieue to build up a picture of how welcome women were in its public spaces. As soon as they entered one bar, which was filled entirely with young men, the owner approached them and asked what they were doing there, and if they were waiting for a man. When the women said that they were, he advised them: “It’s better to wait outside. There are men in here.”

France 2 Women in Lyon are organising protests to highlight growing social segregation

France2 They are confronting bar owners whose establishments only welcome men

There are now areas in our country where women can no longer go Women's rights minister Pascale Boistard

When the pair countered that it was perfectly normal for women and men to be in a bar together another young man spotted them, and shouted incredulously: “There are men in here!” The women then asked him why he thought their presence was unusual, suggesting that he would perhaps go out for a coffee with a female friend or cousin, to which he replied: “My cousin stays at home.” He continued: “In this cafe there is no mixing. You are in Sevran, you’re not in Paris. It’s a different mentality.” The man insisted the Paris suburb was like the “bled” - A French slang term for a person’s home country which is frequently used by Muslim migrants from north Africa. Following the exchange the two women said that the government’s decision to bring in imams to quell the religious tensions which led to the 2005 riots had led to a more hardline version of Islam taking hold.

In Lyon, France’s second biggest city, the report unearthed evidence that women are now actively altering their dress to avoid being threatened or abused by Muslim men. One young woman told the broadcaster that she does everything she can to not be noticed, including wearing baggy trousers and avoiding wearing skirts and makeup. When asked why, she replied: “Because I’m afraid, as simple as that.” But other women in the southern city are fighting back to reclaim neighbourhoods before they are turned into no go zones. The Collectif des Femmes - a local women’s group - regularly organises marches to streets and cafes which are only frequented by young Muslim men. Brigitte Desmet, one of the leaders of the movement, said that the protests are not designed to attack Muslims, but rather to encourage them to participate in French society and not cut themselves off.

Things you didn't know about Marine Le Pen Fri, May 5, 2017 Marine Le Pen is a French politician who is the president of the National Front, a national-conservative political party in France and one of its main political forces. Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 10 Described as more democratic and republican than her nationalist father, she has led a movement of "de-demonization of the Front National" to detoxify it and soften its image