She was involved in the actions undertaken by women in the Paris Commune, becoming in particular one of the leaders of the Union des femmes pour la défense de Paris et les soins aux blessés created by Elisabeth Dmitrieff and Nathalie Lemel.
In October 1870, Octavie Tardif, along with four other citizens, submitted a complaint to the Paris City Hall, asking that : able-bodied men who are not physicians or surgeons [be] replaced by women in the ambulance serviceTheir request was accepted.
[1] As one of the leaders of the 13th arrondissement of the Union of Women for the Defense of Paris and the Care of the Wounded, founded on April 11, 1871, Octavie Tardif wrote a collective letter for the women workers addressed to Léo Frankel acting as a "delegate to the writings".
In this letter, the women state that they were still waiting for a useful job and criticized the fact that the administration of the Commune was primarily concerned with politics.
On May 3, 1871, Octavie Tardif addressed a petition with 85 signatures to the Commission du travail et d'échange: We need work, since our brothers, our husbands, our sons cannot provide for the family.