World
French policeman ordered to pay 1,000 euros for insulting woman who reported sexual assault
February 8, 2025 / 3:36 PM EST / CBS/AFP
A French police officer has been ordered to pay 1,000 euros, or approximately $1,000 after he described a woman who filed a sexual assault complaint as a “whore”, a source close to the case said on Saturday.
In a case that sparked outrage in France, the woman, then 34, filed a complaint at a Paris police station in February 2022, saying she had been assaulted in the street after several drinks on a night out.
A male police officer later called her on the phone to ask her to come back and finish the paperwork. After he left a message — thinking he had hung up — he started insulting her, calling her a “whore” three times.
The case sparked indignation from activists, who said it reflected how many police officers treated victims of sexual violence.
French statistics in 2017 showed that over 80,000 adult women face rape or attempted rape every year in the country but only 10% file a complaint, the Associated Press reported.