Mobilization of residents on May 19 in the Stalingrad district in Paris. – AFP
- A man was arrested on the night of May 21 to 22 after being filmed by residents raping a woman on the public highway, avenue de Flandre, not far from Place Stalingrad, in Paris (19th). He was indicted and remanded in custody.
- Sent to the police, this video was also posted on Twitter by the group of residents behind the alert and shared by several hundred Internet users.
- Removed from the platform at the request of Twitter, this post has raised criticism.
“When I saw this video, I felt an immense disgust”, breaths Patricia. Living for 40 years in the Stalingrad district in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, the co-founder of the “collective19” struggles to hide her “damn anger”. On the night of May 21 to 22, this Franco-American was alerted by one of her neighbors. This elderly retiree sends her the video of a scene that takes place under her window on avenue de Flandre. “She thought that a couple of drug addicts were making love in the middle of the street. But when I watched her video, I realized it was rape. The victim shouted “Police! Police!” », Patricia tells 20 minutes.
Mobilized since 2018 against the insecurity linked to traffic and crack consumption that is rampant in her neighborhood, Patricia decides to alert other residents gathered in a WhatsApp group. The network is activated and one of the members of this group dials 17. The man suspected of rape is arrested a few minutes later by the police. Indicted for “rape by a person in a state of intoxication, drug trafficking and drug use”, he was remanded in custody. “Out of her”, Patricia decides that same evening to publish the scene she witnessed on the collective’s Twitter account19. A gesture that she does not “regret”, but which has sparked controversy.
“I wanted to alert”
Accessible on Twitter until Tuesday afternoon, the video was shared by several hundred Internet users. “I find that extremely shocking,” denounces Anne-Cécile Mailfert, president of the Women’s Foundation. “For all women who have experienced rape, seeing this kind of video can bring up extremely painful things. And at no time, even if we do not recognize it on the video, we wonder whether the victim agrees, “says the feminist activist, who reported the content to the social network.
A video of a rape filmed by a resident of @Paris is broadcast on @twitter – it’s inhumane. I have posted the video which has been RT hundreds of times. But who are you, what are you made of to think so little of this woman,
– Anne-Cécile Mailfert (@AnneCMailfert) May 24, 2021
Temporarily blocked, the collective19 account managed by Patricia has since deleted the video in question. AT 20 minutes, the local resident explains: “I was beside myself, I wanted to alert people to the reality of what women are experiencing in our neighborhood and in particular women who use crack and are vulnerable. But I also understand the rules in force on the social network and I respect them, that’s why I decided to withdraw this tweet ”.
When contacted, a spokesperson for Twitter complements: “Media describing violent sexual behavior is not allowed on Twitter, in accordance with our sensitive media policy. We take enforcement action when we identify this type of content. “
Political and media reactions
In France, disseminating images of violent attacks can be penalized, especially if these images are likely to be seen by minors, as is the case on social networks. These attacks on minors aim, for example, at disseminating a message of a violent or pornographic nature or of a nature likely to seriously undermine human dignity.
Patricia, she now hopes that this latest alert, launched by her collective, will not go unheeded. “I fully understand that this video could have shocked. But we can’t take it anymore. And it’s terrible to think that such an event must happen for the media and politicians to talk about what is happening in our neighborhood, ”she laments. Since the tragedy, several Parisian elected officials have denounced the security degradation observed in the district. Elected from the 16th district of Paris, LREM deputy Mounir Majhoubi called on Sunday evening “a local state of emergency” and “exceptional national reinforcement”.