All Women Are Superheroes — Flex Body & Soul

Last night a man tried to rob me.

It is well known that living in a vibrant city like Paris has its risks. As beautiful and romantic as it is, like most big cities, poverty is visible in its streets, especially in areas surrounding train stations.

So I guess I was some kind of “easy target”. You know, a young, blonde woman, walking alone from the station wearing headphones, late at night. Oh wait.. it was only 7:30pm on a Saturday night and I was returning home from the cinema after watching (the amazing) Justice League!

Paris, France Photo credit: John Towner — Paris, France
Photo credit: John Towner

I know the area well, having lived there in the past, and now living only 10 minute’s walk from the station. Never in my five years of living in Europe has anyone attempted to steal from me. As an expat, you learn very quickly to keep your belongings close and to be aware of your surroundings.

I guess I had become too comfortable and despite having all my valuables zipped in my coat pockets I decided to send one last SMS before putting away my phone and putting on my gloves - it was only 2 °C after all!

Paris, France Photo credit: Yannis Papanastasopoulos — Paris, France
Photo credit: Yannis Papanastasopoulos

The next five minutes were a blur. A man in a black hoodie ran up beside me, grabbed my 2015 Samsung Galaxy S6 with a cracked screen out of my hand and sprinted across the road and down another street.

Without thinking, I screamed out something like “YOU BASTARD!” and sprinted after him. Deciding that I would get more help if I screamed in French, I switched to “VOLEUR! ARRÊTE! AIDEZ-MOI!” (In English: Thief! Stop! Help me!).

I have never run so fast or screamed so loudly in my life. It really was like in a film.

Passing an elderly woman on the footpath who was gripping her walking frame, son by her side, the chase continued down the street. “Help!”, I screamed in French, “He stole my telephone!”

A few seconds later I caught up, and to my relief he had been stopped by a group of people, and was being held down by an older lady, who was sitting on him and holding her chihuahua in one hand.

I joined her, pinning him down as he wriggled around on the pavement. People yelled out to call the police but they didn’t show up. An audience appeared around us and I quickly explained the theft and asked the man for my phone back. “I don't have it! I threw it into the street earlier!” he said.

Shortly after, someone found the phone and returned it to me and we let the man go. The woman with the chihuahua gave me a big hug and I sought shelter in a nearby Indian restaurant until I could get over the shock and the rush of adrenaline that was pumping through my veins. The hostess suggested I be careful on my way home in case the man was waiting for me, so I quickly called an Uber who delivered me safely to my door. Once secure in my apartment, I promptly broke down into tears, certain that I had spotted the man lurking in the street where we had made the arrest.

So what can we take away from this situation?

To be clear, this isn’t about my “stuff” getting stolen. The only reason I ran so fast is because my Samsung phone won’t connect to my Macbook and I haven't been able to back up my telephone since…ever.

I was going to lose all my photos and data from my current and previous phone dating back to 2012. Secondly, my “super handy” phone case - which did manage to break the fall when my phone was thrown onto the sidewalk - has a credit card holder and my bank card was indeed in this compartment.

That seemed like enough motivation to do the necessary to retrieve it.

This is what I learned from the event:

Women are strong. But women, united, are unstoppable. Especially in a crisis.

I knew I was a strong, independent woman, but I never thought I would be taking a page out of Wonder Woman’s book and chasing down a crook! (Thanks to Justice League for providing inspiration earlier that evening!)

There were men gathered around when I arrived at the scene, but it was a woman holding the thief down! It was also a woman who welcomed me into her restaurant to recover from the event. We didn’t incite violence, but we restrained the thief until we recovered my belongings. It was 100% a team effort and I never would have caught him without the help of my fellow Parisians.

Another issue which hit me almost immediately is the current economic climate. Modern Capitalism doesn’t work. Most of the terrible things that happen in this world are motivated by money. War, drug trade, theft, embezzlement, fraud, the list goes on…

The thief himself said that he stole the phone for money. My beaten-up Galaxy S6 may not have even earned him 100 euros. To me, its contents are invaluable, but on the market it’s not worth the trouble he caused to steal it.

I should note that in hindsight, it was extremely lucky that nobody was injured during this encounter. The thief was unarmed and working alone, but it could easily have been otherwise.

So I guess there are multiple victims here. I was a victim of theft, who, fortunately, was able to rally her fellow citizens and arrest the thief. The thief was a victim of the system. Of society. It is clear that many people are falling through the cracks, especially in Paris where most people tend to be just getting by, until they aren’t anymore.

Since we all share the cities we live in, we need to consider the impact of our actions and of those in government. What can we do to help each other and prevent people from taking desperate measures such as theft? I for one, will be more generous with my donations to those who choose to peacefully ask for help on the street rather than resorting to criminal behaviour.

Finally, I feel it’s important to instil strength and confidence into the young women of our society. Women should not be viewed as potential “easy” victims. The stereotype of women being the weaker sex needs to be replaced by the truth.

Women are inspirational. We are strong enough to change the world. We should be united rather than in competition. We need powerful female role models in business and politics, fairy tales and animated children’s films. We need more super-heroines like Wonder Woman to remind us that we already have her strength embedded within us.

Who inspires you and why? Leave a comment below!