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FRANCE-ASSAULT-FBL-WC-2018
Paris police urge women to report World Cup sexual assaults
PARIS, July 18, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Paris’s police chief urged women on Wednesday to
report any cases of sexual assault during the celebrations of France’s World Cup
win, after dozens of accounts by victims were posted on social media in recent days.
“These cases must be brought to our attention so that investigations can be
carried out,” Michel Delpuech said on Europe 1 radio.
“Our services will obviously pursue any aggressors without fail if they are
identified,” he said.
Reports of forced kisses and groping began emerging after France won the final
against Croatia on Sunday night, as hundreds of thousands of fans poured into the
streets of Paris and other cities.
Others recounted sexual assaults during the team’s victory parade down the Champs
Elysees avenue on Monday, eventually using the hashtag #MeTooFoot, a nod to the Me
Too movement that sprang up in the wake of rape and assault claims against Hollywood
mogul Harvey Weinstein.
“For me it was during the third goal… when I felt a hand slide up under my
skirt,” a Twitter user named Isa posted Monday.
Other victims posted that they had not filed charges, saying they did not believe
the police would pursue their cases since their aggressors quickly fled into the
crowd.
France’s Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa also urged victims to come forward on
Tuesday, saying on Twitter that “A man forcibly kisses a woman during the World Cup
parties, that’s sexual assault that is punished by the law.”
BSS/AFP/PI/1641