French police have opened an investigation after a woman in Strasbourg was attacked in broad daylight for wearing a skirt.
Student Elizavet (22) says that she received several blows to the head from "three men who complained that she was wearing a skirt".
The authorities condemned this "very serious" incident as unacceptable.
Since the law against street harassment was introduced in France in 2018, more than 1800 fines have been issued.
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U radio interview, Elizabeth said she was walking home when one of the three men on the street said "look at this harlot in a skirt"
TÉMOIGNAGE - Une étudiante strasbourgoise agressée parce qu'elle portait une jupe https://t.co/JvpHsqND3s pic.twitter.com/rU27kEQwyB
— France Bleu Alsace (@bleualsace) September 21, 2020
The other two then held her while the third punched her in the face, causing her eye to turn blue, she told the station. The men then fled.
She also said that more than ten people witnessed the incident, but that no one reacted.
On Wednesday, Marlene Sciapa of the Ministry of the Interior - who was previously the minister for gender equality - visited the city in the east of the country to talk about the safety of women in public places.
She said that "a skirt is never a reason for such attacks, and a woman is even less so."
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"A woman is never beaten for wearing a skirt. She is beaten by people who are misogynistic, sexist, violent and who want to be above any law or civilized rules.
"When you're a student and you have to think about what you're going to wear and what message your wardrobe sends, it's mentally very hard," said Šiapa.
She appealed to people to call the police if they see any form of street harassment of women in public spaces.
On Thursday, local media reported that two more women were attacked in Mulhouse, when an unknown man told one of them that her skirt was "too short".
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