A woman in Paris, France says she was punched in the face after cursing at a man who catcalled her. You can see surveillance footage of the incident above. The woman, identified as 22-year-old Marie Laguerre, first appears in the top right-hand corner of the video wearing a red dress, passing a man with a bag slung over his shoulder. She turns her head briefly but continues to walk away, and off the lower left-hand of the screen.
But that’s not the end. The man appears to begin following her, and she steps back into frame. They appear to exchange words, and just off-frame, he appears to strike her. This happens right next to outdoor seating of a restaurant. Customers immediately take notice.
Laguerre flips the bird as the man walks away. Other customers exchange words with the men before he walks away. The video ends.
In a Facebook post about the incident, Laguerre said it happened July 24, on her way home.
“He was able to send me noises / comments / Whistles / dirty tongue, humiliating and provocative in my passage,” she wrote. It wasn’t the first time she got catcalled that day, and she was tired of it, so she told him to shut up, she wrote.
Laguerre claimed he threw an ashtray on her, followed her and then hit her on the face in front of dozen of witnesses. She filed a complaint.
Laguerre also defended the bystanders against criticism that they didn’t do enough. She wrote that the situation happened fast, and they didn’t have enough time to figure things out.
“The attacker was dangerous,” she wrote, adding that after she came back, the witnesses were really supportive.
[Screengrab via Marie Laguerre]
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