France: Activist sparks backlash after calling rape threat a ‘collateral damage’

A political storm has erupted in France following a widely circulated video featuring Bettina Zürli, a feminist activist and supporter of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise (LFI) party. During a confrontation at Place de la République in Paris, Zürli referred to an attempted rape threat as “collateral damage.”

The incident occurred following violent protests on October 17. A mother, who was in an apartment with her infant, reported that a group of protesters attempted to break in and threatened to rape her because she was preventing them from looting a small shop on the ground floor.

While Zürli later issued an apology on Instagram, stating that “rape is a crime that can never be justified,” she continued to defend acts of vandalism, attacks on banks, and sabotage as legitimate forms of political resistance. She further remarked that property damage is not a primary concern during a social uprising, stating, “It is private property, it doesn’t matter.”

Zürli’s comments have drawn intense criticism from politicians and citizens alike, who accuse her of cynically trivializing sexual violence to defend the actions of protesters.