PARIS — French lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday that introduced the concept of consent in the legal definition of rape following the shocking Gisèle Pelicot trial last year.
While advocates have been pushing for years for France to change the definition of rape and sexual assault to outlaw nonconsensual acts, Pelicot’s case, where 51 men were accused of raping her with the help of her now ex-husband, who had drugged her, gave new impetus and got the ball rolling.
Until now, French law defined sexual assault — including rape — as acts performed through “violence, coercion, threat, or surprise.” Some of the lawyers in the trial had unsuccessfully centered their defense on the argument that the definition did not explicitly require seeking a partner’s consent, claiming their clients believed they were taking part in a sexual fetish shared by the couple.
The newly-written law states that “any non-consensual sexual act … constitutes sexual assault.”
Consent must be “free and informed,” given for one specific act prior to it taking place, and it must be “revocable,” it adds.
Crucially, it is explicitly stated that consent cannot be “inferred solely from the victim’s silence or lack of reaction.”
Véronique Riotton, a centrist lawmaker who coauthored the bill and wrote a report on the issue in 2023, told POLITICO that the bill’s passage was a “positive moment” proving that parliament could still move forward on major issues despite the political gridlock currently crippling France.
Several lawmakers had tried to pass similar legislation in recent years, but the issue drew little attention until Pelicot’s case. In 2022, a European Commission proposal to require all member countries to classify any nonconsensual sex as rape was dropped from a wide-ranging draft law on violence against women due to opposition from several countries, including France.
French President Emmanuel Macron later clarified that he supports the legal redefinition but does not see it as a European prerogative.
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