Marie Laguerre

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Marie Laguerre
Portrait Marie Laguerre.jpg
Born (1996-02-22) 22 February 1996 (age 29)
Saint-Cyr-l'École, Île-de-France, France
OccupationFeminist activist
Years active2018–present
Known forCampaigning against street harassment
Honours BBC 100 Women (2018)

Marie Laguerre (born 22 February 1996) is a French feminist activist, known for her campaigning against street harassment after she was assaulted while walking home in 2018.

Contents

Early life and education

Laguerre was born on 22 February 1996 in Saint-Cyr-l'École in the western suburbs of Paris to a Lebanese-French mother and a father of Basque heritage. In 2013, she enrolled in an engineering course in Rennes, Brittany, graduating in 2018. Laguerre subsequently started studying for a bachelor's degree in architecture in Paris. [1]

Activism

Assault and trial

On 24 July 2018, while Laguerre was returning to her home in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, a man on the street made obscene remarks to her. After Laguerre said to him "ta gueule" (lit. 'shut up'), the man threw an ashtray at her, missing her. Following a verbal altercation between the two, the man punched Laguerre in the face. [2] [3]

After obtaining CCTV of the attack from a nearby bistro, Laguerre uploaded the footage onto Facebook. [4] The footage was subsequently reported on widely, both in French outlets such as Le Parisien and France Info, and also by the international media, including 24 horas, The Guardian and the BBC. [2] [5] [6] By 2020, the footage had been viewed over 20 million times. [7] Laguerre was interviewed by various television programmes, including Touche pas à mon poste!. [1]

Laguerre filed a criminal complaint against her attacker, who was arrested on 27 August 2018. It was revealed that he had already been convicted on nine previous occasions of contempt, theft and violence. He admitted to assaulting Laguerre, and on 4 October 2018 was sentenced to serve one year in prison, with six months suspended; to pay Laguerre €2000 in damages; and to partake in a course on violence against women. [1] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

Following the public debate caused by Laguerre's assault, on 3 August 2018, the French government passed the Schiappa law, which formally made street harassment illegal. Laguerre commented publicly on her support of the wider conversation occurring on the issue of street harassment, though criticised the fact that there was no legislation criminalising it prior to her assault. [13] [14]

Subsequent events

On 1 August 2018, Laguerre launched Nous toutes harcèlement (lit. 'we are all harassed'), a website that collected testimonies from women who had experienced harassment on the street, at work and at home. [15] Laguerre reported being the victim of cyberbullying following her assault, and on 5 December 2018 filed a criminal complaint against Twitter with the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris, handing over her computer to assist with the identification of her harassers. [16] [17]

Following the attack, Laguerre paused her studies, before resuming them in September 2019. [1]

In February 2020, Laguerre co-wrote a book, Rebellez-vous! (lit. 'Rebel!'), about the struggle for women's rights. [1] [12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Lecas, Marion (7 August 2020). "Marie Laguerre, féministe à bout de souffle". La Croix (in French). Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  2. 1 2 Lauwereys, Zoé (29 July 2018). "Frappée au visage en plein Paris pour avoir répondu à son harceleur". Le Parisien (in French). Archived from the original on 18 May 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  3. ↑ "Marie Laguerre, l'étudiante agressée à Paris, lance un site pour encourager les femmes à témoigner". Huffpost (in French). 2 August 2018. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  4. ↑ "Frappée en plein Paris après avoir répondu à l'homme qui la harcelait, cette femme partage les images pour faire passer un message". Huffpost (in French). 28 July 2018. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  5. ↑ Willsher, Kim (30 July 2018). "Uproar in France over video of woman hit by harasser in Paris street". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 30 September 2025. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  6. ↑ "La indignación que causó en Francia el video de la brutal agresión a una mujer en la calle". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). 30 July 2018. Archived from the original on 30 September 2025. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  7. ↑ Chaboche, Thibaud (26 October 2020). "Marie Laguerre sur le harcèlement de rue : "Beaucoup de femmes sortent la peur au ventre"". RTL (in French). Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  8. ↑ Seckel, Henri (4 October 2018). "Au procès de l'homme qui avait giflé Marie Laguerre : « Vous voulez me faire passer pour je sais pas quoi ! »". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 21 December 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ↑ P-L., J. (27 August 2018). "Agression de Marie Laguerre à Paris : un suspect en garde à vue". Le Parisien (in French). Archived from the original on 30 September 2025. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  10. ↑ Toussay, Jade (29 August 2018). "Agression de Marie Laguerre à Paris: l'homme interpellé a reconnu les faits". Huffpost (in French). Archived from the original on 7 January 2025. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  11. ↑ Chahuneau, Louis (4 October 2018). "Affaire Marie Laguerre : son agresseur condamné à 6 mois de prison ferme". Le Point (in French). Archived from the original on 30 March 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  12. 1 2 Goldberger, Corine. "Marie Laguerre : "On ne peut pas tolérer les 'petites' agressions sexistes au quotidien"". Marie Claire (in French). Archived from the original on 21 December 2025. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  13. ↑ Laguerre, Marie (9 October 2018). "Marie Laguerre : «J'ai gagné une bataille»". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  14. ↑ Politi, Caroline (4 October 2018). "VIDEO. Affaire Marie Laguerre: «Je lui ai dit "le rouge te va super bien", et elle m'a dit "ta gueule"», justifie l'agresseur". 20 minutes (in French). Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  15. ↑ Lauwereys, Zoé (2 August 2018). "Frappée par son harceleur, Marie Laguerre ouvre un site pour recueillir la parole des victimes". Le Parisien (in French). Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  16. ↑ "Victime de cyberharcèlement, Marie Laguerre va porter plainte". Le Nouvel Obs (in French). 11 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 March 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  17. ↑ Legrand, Salome (6 December 2018). "Harcelée en ligne et menacée de mort, Marie Laguerre dépose plainte : "Tous les messages sont profondément sexistes"". Europe 1 (in French). Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
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