Man sentenced to 6 months in prison for slapping a woman

[RavenSky]

22-year-old Marie Laguerre was the victim of the unprovoked assault caught on CCTV in Paris.

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=77&v=48Fg-j11XE0[/YOUTUBE]

The 22-year-old victim, Marie Laguerre, accused the man of lashing out after she told him to stop harassing her while she walked down a street in Paris in July.

In the video, which was recorded on CCTV and later uploaded to Facebook by Marie herself, you can see Firaz say something to the young woman as he crosses her path. Marie later shared that her assaulter had made "noises with sexual connotations", as well as degrading remarks towards her.

Marie can be seen responding to the man, before they walk away down separate sides of a restaurant's outdoor seating area. But seconds later, with the vocal exchange evidently having continued, Firaz walks around to the other side of the restaurant, where Marie is, and slaps her so hard she almost falls to the ground.

In the aftermath of the incident, lawmakers in France passed a bill banning gender-based harassment on the streets and on public transport. Anyone found to be sexually harassing another person will be fined up to €750 (around £660).

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a23607233/marie-laguerre-slap-viral-video-man-jailed/

A Frenchman who threw an ashtray and hit a young woman outside a Paris cafe after she confronted him for catcalling her has been fined and sentenced to six months in jail.

The man, identified only as Firas M., 25, was found guilty on Thursday of “aggravated violence with an object used as a weapon.” He will face another six months in prison if he reoffends within the next three years, a French court ruled.

He was also ordered to pay 2,000 euros, about $2,300, to the victim, Marie Laguerre, a 22-year-old engineering student, and is forbidden from contacting her.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/world/europe/paris-cafe-marie-laguerre.html

 

[RavenSky]

France’s New Law Against Sexist Catcalls Gets Its First Conviction

A little more than a week after the encounter in July, the French government passed a law against verbal sexual harassment. On-the-spot fines of up to €750 can be issued in cases of street harassment, including disrespectful comments on a woman’s looks or clothing, catcalling, intrusive questions, unwanted following and “upskirting” — surreptitiously taking photos under a person’s skirt — according to the legislation.

The new law has already been put to use: A man who made lewd comments to a woman on a bus in a Parisian suburb was fined €300 last month.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/world/europe/paris-cafe-marie-laguerre.html

The incident occurred in the suburban town of Draveil, about 10 miles south of Paris, when a 21-year old woman got on a bus at rush hour, and soon after, so did a man who appeared to be drunk. It was crowded and he was jammed up against her and slapped her behind.

He said “you have big breasts” and called the young woman a “whore,” said Marie-Celine Lawrysz, vice prosecutor in Evry, where the case went to court...

“The young woman did not stay passive and went to see the bus driver, who tried to intervene,” Ms. Lawrysz said. The man then hit the bus driver, who called the police and locked the bus doors until they arrived.

Video surveillance caught what happened, Ms. Lawrysz said, and witnesses corroborated the account.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/world/europe/france-sexual-harassment-law.html

 

[Derec]

I wonder where the perp is from. He has an Arabic name, Firaz, popular throughout the Muslim world.

That said, physical assault is one thing, criminalizing offensive speech quite another. Especially when done in a gender non-invariant way as French left has done with this new law.

 

[Toni]

I wonder where the perp is from. He has an Arabic name, Firaz, popular throughout the Muslim world.

That said, physical assault is one thing, criminalizing offensive speech quite another. Especially when done in a gender non-invariant way as French left has done with this new law.

I’m not sure of the relevance of the man’s nationality.

It’s not clear to me that men are not protected against sexual harassment under this law.

There is a difference between offensive speech and threatening, harassing speech whose purpose is to impede on the freedom of the target.

 

[Angry Floof]

I wonder where the perp is from. He has an Arabic name, Firaz, popular throughout the Muslim world.

That said, physical assault is one thing, criminalizing offensive speech quite another. Especially when done in a gender non-invariant way as French left has done with this new law.

This is progress. This is a reasonable and humane response to violence against women. Die mad about it.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

Slapping someone until they almost fall down , or throwing an ashtray at someone is physical assault, not just verbal assault.

 

[Derec]

I’m not sure of the relevance of the man’s nationality.

In case you have not noticed, Europe is currently experiencing an invasion by millions of Muslim mass migrants. Many of them, especially Afghans and Nafris tend to be violent.

It’s not clear to me that men are not protected against sexual harassment under this law.

Oh, please! We all know this is a gender-based law!

There is a difference between offensive speech and threatening, harassing speech whose purpose is to impede on the freedom of the target.

Yes, there is, and all I have seen about this law is that it will target the first.
The First Amendment was a great idea!

- - - Updated - - -

Slapping someone until they almost fall down , or throwing an ashtray at someone is physical assault, not just verbal assault.

True. The thread conflated two disparate issues - the case of a woman being assaulted by a Muslim migrant and the new law that criminalizes offensive speech directed at women.

- - - Updated - - -

This is progress. This is a reasonable and humane response to violence against women. Die mad about it.

Criminalizing speech is not progress, it's regress. There is a huge difference between speech and violence. And violence against women should not be treated any differently than any other violence. Women should not get any special treatment under the law. That kind of sexism is regressive as well.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Physical assault should always be charged and adjudicated.

I don't like the idea of on-the-spot fines that by definition haven't been previewed by a magistrate of some sort. Police make mistakes. There should be a review before any fine is laid, in my opinion.

 

[laughing dog]

Oh, please! We all know this is a gender-based law!

No, we don't. Please produce the text of the law that supports your claim.

 

[Toni]

In case you have not noticed, Europe is currently experiencing an invasion by millions of Muslim mass migrants. Many of them, especially Afghans and Nafris tend to be violent.

Invaded? You must be referring to the masses of refugees which are flooding to Europe as it is easier to reach and they are less likely to be turned away than they are from Australia or the US.

Why, exactly, is it that so many brown people are trying to get into Europe, exactly?

Oh, please! We all know this is a gender-based law!

I didn't read anything that suggested that it was a gender based law.

There is a difference between offensive speech and threatening, harassing speech whose purpose is to impede on the freedom of the target.

Yes, there is, and all I have seen about this law is that it will target the first.
The First Amendment was a great idea!

The First Amendment pertains to the USA, not France. I agree that it is a good idea and a great law. However, First Amendment laws are not absolute. There are exceptions such as crying fire in a crowded theater, liable, lying to certain officials, and a number of other things where free speech carries serious consequences. For example, it is one thing for the KKK to march through the streets shouting racist slogans. It is quite a different thing for the KKK to corner someone on the street and threaten to burn down their house and rape their wife and daughters if they register to vote. One is protected speech. The other is a criminal act.

Slapping someone until they almost fall down , or throwing an ashtray at someone is physical assault, not just verbal assault.

True. The thread conflated two disparate issues - the case of a woman being assaulted by a Muslim migrant and the new law that criminalizes offensive speech directed at women.

I am pretty certain the law does not specify that Muslim men cannot assault (white) women. I'm pretty certain that the law pertains to assault and harassment of people by other people, without specifying religion, ethnicity, race, gender, etc.

Relatively few men are sexually harassed by women on the streets so I would expect that there would be fewer fines levied against women under this law simply because it is statistically less likely that women will be guilty of such actions.

This is progress. This is a reasonable and humane response to violence against women. Die mad about it.

Criminalizing speech is not progress, it's regress. There is a huge difference between speech and violence. And violence against women should not be treated any differently than any other violence. Women should not get any special treatment under the law. That kind of sexism is regressive as well.

Even in the USA, freedom of speech is not absolute and does not include making threats. There is nothing in this law that specifies only women are protected or only men can be convicted of such a law. That is your imagination gone wild.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

I wonder where the perp is from. He has an Arabic name, Firaz, popular throughout the Muslim world.

That said, physical assault is one thing, criminalizing offensive speech quite another. Especially when done in a gender non-invariant way as French left has done with this new law.

It doesn't matter if his name was Firaz, Pierre, or Bozo. His actions were offensive and now the laws punish such acts, and this fool is going to pay the price for his attack on that woman. If that offends you, too effing bad. Suck it up. Such incivility and harassment needs to be illegal.