Charlie Hebdo gunmen reportedly spared a journalist because she was a woman

Charlie Hebdo gunmen reportedly spared a journalist because she was a woman
(Image credit: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images)

Sigolene Vinson, a freelance journalist who was working in the Charlie Hebdo office when it was attacked on Wednesday, told Radio France Internationale that her gender saved her life.

Vinson said that one of the gunmen yelled to his partner, "We don't shoot women!" during the attack. He apparently said to Vinson, "I will not kill you, because you are a woman, and you cannot kill women, but you have to convert to Islam and read the Koran."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.