Australian tourist’s complaint of gang-rape fuels safety concerns ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics
Tourist, 25, says she was raped by seven men on Saturday night
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Your support makes all the difference.French authorities are investigating the alleged gang-rape of an Australian tourist in Paris, an incident that has heightened safety concerns ahead of the Olympics in the city.
The tourist was allegedly raped by five men on Saturday night and reported the assault after taking refuge in a local restaurant.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said it is investigating the assault as a gang-rape.
"A woman born in August 1998 in Australia reported the facts in taking refuge in a restaurant in the 18th arrondissement where she was taken care of by the firefighters," it said in a statement.
The alleged assault was followed by an unrelated incident of violence against members of an Australian media team that is in the city to cover the Games.
Two Channel Nine staffers suffered injuries in what is reported to have been an attempted robbery.
They were walking to their accommodation in Le Bourget in the northeast of Paris on Monday afternoon when the attackers tried to snatch their backpacks.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement on Wednesday that the country’s embassy in Paris has offered consular assistance to the tourist who was allegedly assaulted.
"We understand that this is a very traumatic experience and stand ready to provide assistance," it said. The department did not provide any other information to protect the victim’s privacy.
Australia’s Olympics team chief, Anna Meares, said the team is aware of the incident.
"There is not a lot of detail and information that has come through, and what information we’re passing on to our athletes, is that the security presence is really, really high," she said.
"Our hearts go out to the woman involved and we hope she’s being cared for and supported in the trauma that she’s experienced.”
She said they are encouraging athletes to not wear their team uniform when they go out of the Games village on their own.
The team, however, hasn’t received any feedback from any of the athletes that they have felt unsafe, she said.
The 2024 Games kick off on Friday with an open-air ceremony along the River Seine.
France is set to deploy 35,000 police officers daily for the Olympics and 45,000 for the opening ceremony. It has also deployed 10,000 soldiers for security operations in the Paris region.
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