By 
12-04-2024
Innocenti Chiara
Europe Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
Paris (FRANCE) – On June 18th, a twelve year-old girl reported that she was raped in a park in the suburbs of the French capital and had been insulted with anti-Semitic slurs. Notwithstanding the multiple death threats received by perpetrators during the ordeal, the minor found the courage to alert the police about the incident promptly.
According to declarations, it all happened in a park located close to her home, in the North-West Parisian district of Courbevoie, at the hands of three boys aged between 12 and 13 years old. The girl, who was intent on taking a walk, was allegedly stopped and dragged to a shed, where she was sexually assaulted by two boys and forced to listen to numerous aspersions from the third boy regarding her Jewish descent. The third boy involved, who is aged 12 years old, was not accused of rape, however, he is facing charges for filming the scene, calling the girl a “dirty jew”, asking the victim questions about her religious beliefs and standing on the Israel-Hamas war, and for threatening to kill her if she told authorities about the incident. The attack on the helpless minor girl provoked immediate nationwide outrage and made people take to the streets on Wednesday in both Paris and Lyon to protest against the ever-increasing scourge of antisemitism with banners that read “it could have been your sister”.
French President Macron’s reaction was immediate and sharp since he addressed the topic of antisemitism on the occasion of a Council of Ministers meeting summoned on Wednesday to encounter the members of his government. With war escalating in the Gaza Strip and antisemitic acts massively proliferating across France, the Prime Minister launched an appeal to the Minister of Education, Nicole Belloubet, to ensure that all schools, over the next few days, engage in a dialogue over the serious consequences that hate speech and racism can have.
Sources and further reading:
(2024, June 19). News 24. Protests in Paris, Lyon, after French boys charged with rape of 12-year-old Jewish girl. Retrieved on June 20, 2024, from
(2024, June 19). Reuters. Macron demands schools address antisemitism after Jewish girl raped. Retrieved on June 19, 2024, from:
(2024, June 19). CBS News. Boys charged in alleged antisemitic gang rape of 12-year-old girl in France. Retrieved on June 20, 2024, from:
(2024, June 19). BBC News. Macron condemns antisemitism after Jewish girl is raped. Retrieved on June 20, 2024, from:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cljj9x8lj2jo.
(2024, June 20). France 24. Hundreds of Protest against anti-Semitism after Jewish girl raped in France. Retrieved on June 20, 2024, from:
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