Outrage in France after woman who stood up to sexual harassment gets assaulted

July 31, 2018

Just one week out from France enforcing a law which will fine people for sexually harassing others in public, security footage of a 22-year-old Parisian woman being assaulted outside a cafe has caused outrage.

CCTV video of the assault on architecture student Marie Laguerre has made national headlines, and elicited a response from French equalities minister, Marlène Schiappa, who said she was "outraged … but not surprised, unfortunately" by the attack.

Shciappa is responsible for convincing the French Assemblee Nationale to pass legislation in May to outlaw "annoying, following and threatening" women, including making sexist comments.

"The political response must be strong and it is, because for the first time in France we will fine those responsible for street harassment," Schiappa told The Guardian.

The attack on Marie Laguerre has generated a furious response online, after the 22-year-old posted footage of it to YouTube.

The footage was passed on to her by the cafe owner.

The scene captures a man passing Laguerre on the street outside a Buttes-Chaumont park cafe at 6.45pm.

Laguerre said the man "made dirty noises, comments and whistled" toward her as they passed, and she in response told him to "shut up".

Laguerre said the man "heard me and suddenly things happened suddenly. He grabbed an ashtray and threw it at me. It missed my head by a few centimeters."

The man can then be seen following Laguerre, who turns to face him, at which points he strikes her hard in the face.

The attacker quickly walks off, with cafe patrons rising to confront the man, but not stopping him.

"I felt hatred. I refused to be demeaned, it was humiliating," Laguerre said.

"I was so annoyed I didn’t want to hide, to look down. That he dared to be angry when it was me who had reason to be angry.

"I turned to him and everything went extremely fast, but then I knew he was going to hit me. I was even ready to fight. When the blow came, I took it without showing any emotion. He continued to scream."

The attacker has not been identified yet, but the Paris prosecutor's office has opened an inquiry into the incident.

SHARE ME

More Stories