The horrifying attack on an Australian tourist in Paris last weekend is just the latest alleged gang rape on the streets of the French capital.
In the wake of the shocking news, Parisian women have revealed their safety fears, while police have voiced concerns in the run up to the Olympics.
Following the brutal attack which has sent shockwaves through the city, MailOnline spoke to several women in Pigalle. The recurring response was one of disbelief and horror – and concern about the safety of being out on the city’s streets after dark.
Aurelia Desnot, a 21-year-old student, said: ‘The rape of that poor young woman on Friday night has been catastrophic to the image of France. I would not go out late at night on my own in this area because I don’t want to put myself in danger.
‘There are always men hanging around late at night watching women,’ she warned.
‘When I go out, I go prepared. I know which route I am going on and I know how I am going to get home. And me and my friends check on each other to make sure we have got home safely.’
A woman, 25, sought refuge in a Paris kebab shop after being brutally raped by five men at around 5am. But just moments later, one of the woman’s (blurred on the far left of image) alleged rapists (circled) approached her before ‘patting her’
Pictured: Manon Guillon, 22, a receptionist, told how young women have to consider what they are wearing when they go out in certain parts of the city
Pictured: Aurelia Desnot, 21, said: ‘The rape of that poor young woman on Friday night has been catastrophic to the image of France’
Pictured: Georgina, 30, who is visiting Paris from Cordoba, Argentina, said she would not dream about going out in Pigalle at night
Pictured: Emma, 24, said she was not surprised that a woman had been attacked in the area
A map showing the location of the kebab shop where the Australian woman sought refuge following the alleged gang rape, in relation to some of the Olympic venues in Paris
As the home of the internationally renowned Moulin Rouge cabaret club, Pigalle, attracts tens of thousands of tourists every day – but it is also home to seedy sex shops and massage parlours.
Despite the area’s liberal attitude towards sex, woman feel like they have to cover up or face unwanted attention from men in the area.
Manon Guillon, 22, a receptionist, told how young women have to consider what they are wearing when they go out in certain parts of the city.
She said: ‘As a woman, you have to be mindful of what you are wearing when you go, especially in this area.
‘If your tummy is showing, or you are wearing a short skirt then you get a lot of unwanted sexual attention.
‘This is the centre of Paris but there are always men here looking at women.’
Emma, 24, a student said she was not surprised that a woman had been attacked in the area.
She said: ‘It is a terrible thing to have happened to this woman, but I am not surprised. Pigalle is a bad area.
‘If I am in this part of town late at night then I take extra security measures. I take an Uber home, rather than walk through the streets, or take that Metro.
‘I keep a watch about how is around me.’
Argentinian tourist Georgia, 30, said she would not dream about going out in Pigalle at night.
She said: ‘This is a bad area. There are always men hanging around watching women. I would not feel safe here late at night.’
Others were less concerned. A member of a group of tourists from California told MailOnline: ‘I don’t feel that it’s particularly unsafe here. Bad things happen in all parts of the world. I don’t think it’s any worse than any other city.’
Meanwhile French authorities today flooded the area with police patrols and they tried to reassure residents and tourists alike.
However, nearly 100 rapes were reported in Paris last year, and a similar number were reported in the French capital the year before, it has emerged.
Some 93 formal complaints of rape were made in 2023 and 92 were made in 2022, according to French media.
Residents and tourists are fearing for their safety and police voicing concerns in the run up to the Olympics
Last month, a British woman was allegedly gang raped after a concert in another area in central Paris – just minutes away from where Saturday’s attack took place
Despite heightened security surrounding the Olympics, the Australian woman was allegedly attacked by the group of men in an area less than three miles from the Stade de France – the epicentre of the games which open on Friday.
The alleged victim had spent Friday night drinking in the bars and clubs around the Moulin Rouge cabaret – an area popular tourists – before the men approached her.
She told police she was set upon by a group of five men ‘of African appearance’ and brutally raped at about 5am before escaping and seeking safety in the nearby Dounia kebab shop.
Minutes later, she was approached by one of the men she said had attacked her, who harrowing video footage shows approaching her and patting her on the back.
A diner then confronts the alleged rapist, taking a swing as staff jump in to break pull them apart before the man then leaves the restaurant.
The footage is likely to form critical evidence as French authorities investigate the alarming incident.
The woman, who was described as having ‘her dress inside out’, also claimed her mobile phone had been stolen in the brazen attack.
She was said to be ‘disoriented and unable to speak a word of French’ as she told police what had happened, and was reportedly unable to give clear details.
Cps are still hunting five men thought to be involved in the assault, which echoes a nearby attack on a British tourist just last month.
In June, a British woman was allegedly gang raped in another area in central Paris – just minutes away from where Saturday’s attack took place.
The tourist was found crying as she stumbled through the streets of Paris’ 1st arrondissement after she was attacked and subsequently robbed late at night, a police source said.
The attack took place after she had left a concert at the Olympia hall – one of hundreds of events held across France on June 21 to mark the annual ‘Fête de la Musique’ festival.
The victim – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was picked up by police and firefighters and taken to the Cochin hospital to undergo medical examinations.
Pictured: Police seen in Pigalle, Paris, as cops investigate a ‘gang rape’ of Australian woman
Police were seen out in full force following the harrowing rape of a tourist in Pigalle
She later told police she was accosted by several men and pulled to a secluded area where they raped her and stole her phone, according to Le Figaro.
In another depraved attack earlier in June, a 12-year-old Jewish girl was raped in an abandoned warehouse by three youths.
The girl from Courbevoie, in the Hauts-de-Seine suburb northwest of the French capital, told police that she had been raped by the boys – one of whom she said was her ex-boyfriend.
Investigators heard how the gang grabbed her while she was sitting with her boyfriend and dragged her to a hangar in the nearby La Defense district to carry out the attack.
A police source said the youths forced her into sex acts ‘while uttering death threats and anti-Semitic remarks’.
The ex-boyfriend reportedly accused the victim of ‘hiding her Jewish religion’ from him.
In January, an American woman told police she was ‘raped and left at the side of the road‘ while visiting Paris to attend Fashion Week.
French daily Le Parisien said that the tourist was raped by two men after taking drugs that one of them had given her.
According to the newspaper, the assault happened in a house that the woman was subsequently unable to locate.
The woman said that the two men brought her to that home, where she was assaulted and then forced back into the car and dumped on the road.
Multiple Parisian women have also reported being attacked in an area known as a crime hotspot – just a ten minute drive from the Stade de France, which is hosting the athletics events, and the Center Aquatique which is hosting much of the swimming.
The Australian women had spent Friday night drinking in the bars and clubs around the Moulin Rouge cabaret before the group of five men approached her in an unspecified location
Dounia kebab shop located on the Boulevard de Clinchy where the woman sought refuge
French authorities have now launched a major investigation into the brazen attack which has sent shockwaves through the nation
Place Auguste Baron in the north-east of the French capital has saw two women attacked and threatened with rape in two days in May, according to French media.
The suspects in each case are said to have been crack addicts.
A local told La Parisien that addicts are present throughout Place Auguste Baron, and said that for all residents, ‘assaults and even rapes’ are a fact of daily life.
A few days earlier, in the same area, a woman who had just dropped her children off at school was walking with a neighbour when she was attacked by a man who threatened to rape her.
Municipal police officers, who were on surveillance near the school, are said to have intervened.
In 2023, there were 93 rapes committed in public places in Paris, with a similar number in 2022.
According to figures collected by the Paris police prefecture, among these perpetrators of rape in 2023, 20 were already known to the police.
Of the rapes committed in public spaces, the majority were committed by men, most of whom were said to be drug addicts, unemployed and homeless, Europe 1 reports citing police.
Officer Grégory Joron, general secretary of the Unité police union, said that one rape takes place in the Paris area every three days.
The prevalence of the attacks ‘clearly’ shows that it is ‘a phenomenon that we cannot extinguish,’ he said back in April.
He warned that the situation around the city was particularly concerning as the summer approached.
‘These are supposed to be places that have zero per cent crime since we are waiting to welcome millions of tourists for the Olympic Games,’ he said. ‘But for the moment these are still places where unfortunately, we still have a lot of problems.’
He said that there was a risk to women who walk alone ‘after a certain time, at night,’ whether that be from work or a night out.
Armed guards have been spotted patrolling metal barricades erected near the River Seine in Paris ahead of the start of the Olympics
Some 1,700 members of the British police force are already supporting French officers in Paris and Marseille
Police officers take security measures as preparations continue before the opening of Paris 2024 Olympics on July 22, 2024 in Paris
Saturday’s attack will undoubtedly give rise to fears for women visiting and living in Paris – even as there is a historically large police presence on the streets ahead of the Olympics.
Some 45,000 cops have joined the mammoth security operation for the games, with armed guards patrolling the streets and metal barriers lining the Seine.
Some 1,700 members of the British police force are already supporting French officers in Paris and Marseille as well as UK sniffer dogs that have been handpicked by French authorities.
With the games set to be the most heavily policed in history, questions will now be being asked about how such a violent attack could have taken place on Paris’ streets with just days to go to the opening ceremony.