Man hits woman in the face after wolf whistling
m.themorningbulletin.com.au
SHOCKING footage has emerged of the moment a man attacked a woman outside a packed Paris cafe in broad daylight after she complained about his wolf whistles.
French student Marie Laguerre, 22, was walking home in the early evening last Tuesday when an unidentified bearded caucasian male "made dirty noises, commented and whistled".
Marie shouted "Shut up!" back, later admitting, "I didn't even think he had even heard me", The Sun reports.
The man then grabbed an ashtray from a cafe table and threw it at an increasingly irritated Laguerre, who shouted more insults.
She told Le Parisien: "I felt hatred. I refused to be demeaned, it was humiliating. I refused to look down, I looked him right in the eyes, I was not going to apologise."
It was then that the man slapped her around the face, leaving her with swelling around the cheek bones.
She said: "I was in pain, but it happened in a few seconds so I did not realise it right away."
One of the most disturbing aspects of the video, which has gone viral in France, is that people sitting in the cafe did very little except for standing up and looking shocked.
Some men, including one who looks like a waiter, grabbed chairs but nothing was done to keep the assailant away from Laguerre.
Despite this, Laguerre said: "The attacker was dangerous. After the attack, I came back and the witnesses were very supportive, please don't lynch them."
The attack has triggered a national debate about the way women are treated on the streets of France.
Laguerre wrote on her Facebook page: "This is not the only incident. Harassment is everyday. To those men who think anything goes in the street, who allow themselves to humiliate us and who can not stand being offended, it is unacceptable. It is time for this kind of behaviour to STOP. #AllWomenTogether."
Prosecutors have launched an inquiry into "violence and sexual harassment," as police try and find the attacker.
French Equalities Minister Marlene Schiappa said she was "outraged but unfortunately not surprised" by what had happened.
Pointing to new legislation that will see sexist men fined, Ms Schiappa said: "The political response must be strong."
A new government bill will outlaw "annoying, following, and threatening a woman," and the first fines are likely to be introduced this autumn.
This story originally appeared inThe Sun.
