Crossword Genius

Harass a female police officer in Paris? Close to abhorrent! (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

afflict

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'harass' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.

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(Other definitions for afflict that I've seen before include "Distress severely" , "Painfully affect" , "Cause suffering to" , "Cause to suffer" , "Cause distress to" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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