In another edition of “Why men are trash”, a man was caught on video physically assaulting a woman outside a cafe in Paris, France.

The incident, which took place on Tuesday last week, saw 22-year-old student Marie Laguerre (pictured above in a red outfit) on her way home when – while walking through Paris’ 19th district – a random guy started making lewd, sexual comments towards her.

Laguerre explained how this wasn’t the first time she’d been treated like this, BBC reports:

Bad luck, he was not the first one that day and I was tired. So I said ‘shut up’ as I walked away. Because I do not tolerate this kind of behavior [sic]. I cannot shut up and we must not shut up.

Unfortunately, the bloody fool didn’t shut up, and he continued to pursue Laguerre past a street-side cafe. After throwing an ashtray at her, which missed her “by inches”, this happened:

I think this is the perfect opportunity to call that man an absolute piece of shit.

While this said piece of shit got chewed out by angry diners before buggering off, Laguerre immediately went home, but she later returned to the cafe to take witness statements and file a police complaint.

Per a report by CNN, Laguerre – who posted the CCTV footage on her Facebook and YouTube account on Monday, July 30 – explained this type of behaviour was commonplace:

[The man who assaulted her] is not the only one. Harassment is every day. These men who think everything’s allowed in the street, who humiliate us and who cannot stand being offended, it’s unacceptable. It is time for this kind of behaviour to end.

Indeed, if the graph below is anything to go by, a large majority of French women are subjected to this kind of shitty behaviour nearly all the time:

That these and other women have to go through this at all, let alone in 2018 and in a so-called civilised place like France, is absolutely tragic.

Thing is, not everyone subjected to this abuse is able to fight back like Laguerre did:

Some people may be unable to react because of shock, or what French psychiatrist Muriel Salmona calls “emotional amnesia”. Others might not respond because they fear the harasser becoming violent, as happened with Laguerre.

Such reactions are completely normal, Salmona says, adding that harassers seek to “create a state of fear”.

Even those who do respond may continue to experience fear or anxiety.

Meanwhile, the French government is reportedly “shocked” by the video, which coincides with a government push to impose on-the-spot fines for street harassment:

Offenders will have to pay between €90 [R1 387] and €750 [over R11 500] under a package of measures that was backed by French MPs in May and is set to complete its passage through parliament this week.

The initiative has resonated among French women, as the #MeToo movement and its French equivalent #BalanceTonPorc (“rat on your pig”) have gathered pace.

I guess imprisonment of offenders is out of the question then, right?

We can only hope that the piece of trash who assaulted Laguerre will be brought to book – his whereabouts and identity are unknown, and an investigation is underway to find him.

What a cruel world we live in.

[sources:bbc&cnn]