World

France shocked by video of woman being slapped by harasser

July 30, 2018 4:07 pm

A French student has spoken out after she was harassed by a man in a Paris street and then hit in the face when she told him to stop.

Marie Laguerre shared CCTV video of the man slapping her outside a cafe in the north-east of the capital.

The video has gone viral and coincides with a government push to impose on-the-spot fines for street harassment.

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“The first fines should be handed out this autumn,” said Equalities Minister Marlène Schiappa.

Offenders will have to pay between €90 (£80; $105) and €750 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.