Women have described being targeted by Paris Saint-Germain fans during violent riots after the team’s Champions League win on Saturday – with harrowing videos and testimony revealing the extent of vicious sexual and physical attacks in the city.
Shocking video has shown how a huge mob attacked a pair of young women, screaming at them, climbing on their car and smashing its windows in as they tried to drive through the French capital.
The terrified women are seen cowering as the hordes of men intimidated them. Video of the onslaught cuts out shortly after a window is smashed in, making it unclear what happened next.
Some 500 people were arrested, two people died and almost 200 were injured during the riots, according to France’s interior ministry.
Shops were vandalised and looted, cars and motorbikes set on fire and people were stabbed during the chaos in Paris, with violence also seen elsewhere in France.
Predominantly male crowds, large parts of which were drinking alcohol as they celebrated PSG’s win, took over the streets, with women reporting a hostile atmosphere across the city.
A Parisian student called Dounia, who went out with friends to celebrate the victory on the banks of the Seine, described how she was sexually and verbally assaulted by visibly drunk PSG supporters.
‘A man in his forties approached me, holding a flask of alcohol. I saw him approaching and suddenly I felt his hand grab my buttocks,’ the 18-year-old told Le Parisien.
Shocking video has shown how a huge mob attacked a pair of young women, screaming at them, climbing on their car and smashing its windows. It is not clear what happened to the women after the clip ended
A huge crowd of men is seen taunting the young women in the horrifying footage
Rioters cheer as one of them smashed in the window of the women’s car as the terrified driver hides her face
The aggressive men force a camera in one of the young women’s face as crowds jeer around them
TikTok creator Lily-Rose described feeling ‘scared for my life’ as she cycled through the city shortly after the game finished
She told the outlet that she is still in shock days later. ‘It was his reaction when I turned around that was the most telling,’ the young woman said. ‘He insulted me and pushed me violently, before walking away with his friend.’
TikTok creator Lily-Rose described feeling ‘scared for my life’ as she cycled through the city shortly after the game finished.
She described having shards of glass bottles thrown at her and feeling as though she would be knocked off her bike at any moment.
‘Luckily, they landed on the bike frame and I wasn’t hit,’ she sighs in a TikTok video.
‘My evening was ruined. It was supposed to be a moment of euphoria and joy, but that didn’t take into account this problematic and misogynistic behavior,’ she added.
‘When you see the way you behave, it’s scary, it’s terrifying. I’m shaking, I’m traumatized, I thought I was going to die several times.’
Other female PSG fans hoping to celebrate their team’s success said they were unable to spend any more than fifteen minutes in the crowd before being assaulted.
‘We had two hands on our asses and one on our breasts,’ one of the friends reportedly said. ‘We want to party but we can’t.’
Women who were not celebrating the football result also say they were targeted by rowdy fans, with one describing how she was threatened by a PSG supporter as she left her flat briefly to take her rubbish out.
The anonymous woman reportedly said the drunk football fan was ‘aggressive’ and wouldn’t let her return indoors.
She ran back inside and slammed her building door on him, she said, before blockading herself in and sleeping with pepper spray beside her.
In the wake of the explosive final, fans set off fireworks in the streets and clashed with police
Gangs of people watched as cars were set on fire and burned in the streets of Paris
Riot police were called in at multiple points over a weekend of chaos in the French capital
While many shops on the Champs-Elysees were protected ahead of the Champions League final, some did not escape damage
Footage of horrific attacks has been widely condemned online, but also met with more misogynistic comments.
‘Why were you out?’ men on Instagram, X and TikTok responded to women’s complaints.
Other vile comments read: ‘You’re a girl and you’re going to celebrate PSG on the Champs-Elysées, that counts in the bodycount ‘ and ‘The girls who are going to be on the Champs-Elysées on the 31st, we already know why you’re there’.
‘You’re a woman and you’re going to Paris when you know it’s going to be chaos whether we win or lose. Are you stupid?’ another person said.
Dounia said the responses angered her even more, and that women should be ‘able to go out into the street freely, whether there’s a sporting event or not.’
Statistics show that there are 114,000 sexual assaults are recorded in France every year – equivalent to one every four minutes.
PSG claimed the trophy on Saturday with a score of 5-0 against Inter Milan. Pictured: Sunday’s victory parade
Of the victims, 85 per cent are women, and nearly 50 per cent of French women say they feel unsafe in public spaces.
Speaking to PSG players at the Élysée Palace on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the ‘unacceptable’ violence seen on the streets the night before.
‘Nothing can justify what has happened in recent hours, the violent clashes are unacceptable. We will pursue, we will punish, we will be relentless.’
