{"id":271626,"date":"2025-04-01T18:52:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T18:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/01\/frances-parliament-is-set-to-debate-changing-rape-law-to-include-consent\/"},"modified":"2025-04-01T18:52:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T18:52:07","slug":"frances-parliament-is-set-to-debate-changing-rape-law-to-include-consent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/01\/frances-parliament-is-set-to-debate-changing-rape-law-to-include-consent\/","title":{"rendered":"France\u2019s Parliament Is Set to Debate Changing Rape Law to Include Consent"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/01\/multimedia\/01int-france-consent-04-pmwl\/01int-france-consent-04-pmwl-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"France\u2019s Parliament Is Set to Debate Changing Rape Law to Include Consent\" title=\"France\u2019s Parliament Is Set to Debate Changing Rape Law to Include Consent\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many countries require that consent be given before sex \u2014 and have written that into their rape laws. France is not among them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, two lawmakers hope to change that. Debate has begun on their bill, and a vote, in the powerful lower house of the French Parliament, is expected on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Their cause has gained traction after a horrific trial last fall in which dozens of men were <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/france-rape-trial-pelicot.html\" title=\"\">convicted of raping Gis\u00e8le Pelicot<\/a> while she was in a deeply drugged state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If the bill passes, it would then go to the Senate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Here is some background on why the change is being suggested and who objects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-11724d5b\">How does France define rape?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">French law defines rape as any form of sexual penetration committed on another person \u2014 woman or man \u2014 by violence, constraint, threat or surprise. The lawmakers want to expand that definition by including nonconsensual penetration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The bill states that consent implies that it is \u201cgiven freely\u201d and stipulates that it \u201ccan be withdrawn before or during the sexual act.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It also states that consent \u201ccannot be inferred from silence or absence of resistance\u201d and says that true consent cannot be given when a person is in a \u201csituation of vulnerability.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-73ea5623\">Why change the definition?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Marie-Charlotte Garin, one of the two lawmakers proposing the change, said that experts report that up to 70 percent of rape victims freeze or dissociate during sex, rendering them incapable of resisting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet a lack of resistance is often perceived by the courts as permission. Catherine Le Magueresse,<strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"> <\/strong>a legal scholar and proponent of the change, said, \u201cWe have court decisions where it is written, \u2018In the absence of resistance from Madame, Monsieur could not have been aware of raping her.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In most rape cases, attackers\u2019 main defense is that they believed the plaintiff wanted to have sex, Ms. Le Magueresse said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe would be adding a safety step for women, and then he couldn\u2019t even say, \u2018I thought she agreed,\u2019\u201d added Ms. Le Magueresse, author of the book \u201cThe Consent Traps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Other backers of the change say it would broaden the lens of police investigations to look into whether the accused actively sought and acquired the consent of the plaintiff, instead of mostly looking for proof of her resistance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And, perhaps most important, they believe it will reduce the level of impunity when it comes to the crime in France.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-52c6cba1\">Do other countries include consent in rape laws?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yes. Here is a sampling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Canada, the definition of rape has included affirmative consent since 1983. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Europe, the real push to include consent in the penal code occurred after the arrival of #MeToo in 2017. Since then, the number of European countries including consent in their laws has grown to 20 from seven, according to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S175606162400020X\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a 2024 report<\/a> in the International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the United States, the definition of rape varies from state to state.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-637b9c05\">Why are some activists against including consent in the law?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Among those against the change are some feminist activists and lawyers. They say it will actually make things worse for victims by keeping investigators\u2019 attention on victims\u2019 actions rather than on those of the accused.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s a total trap,\u201d said Lorraine Questiaux, a lawyer who focuses on defending female victims of violence. \u201cRape has nothing to do with consent. It is about domination.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The French feminist philosopher Manon Garcia, who has published a book about the Pelicot trial, said changing the law would not fix the deeper social problems the case exposed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">What\u2019s needed is not \u201ca small change in the legal definition of rape,\u201d she said during an <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.radiofrance.fr\/franceculture\/podcasts\/france-culture-va-plus-loin-l-invite-e-des-matins\/manon-garcia-resister-aux-nouveau-males-2783445\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">interview with the radio station France Culture<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s having funds for the police, funds for the justice systems, funds for education, educating little boys and men to be introspective and put themselves in other people\u2019s shoes, to understand that women are human beings they can love.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-2bc414b3\">How did the Pelicot trial affect the debate?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Pelicot case stunned France. Ms. Pelicot\u2019s ex-husband was convicted of inviting other men to join him in raping her after he had drugged her into a stupor. The court also convicted the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/02\/world\/europe\/france-husband-rape-drug-trial-mazan.html\" title=\"\">50 other defendants<\/a>, most of them on rape charges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">French jurisprudence already holds that penetrating someone who is drugged or asleep is automatically rape.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, the head judge, Roger Arata, asked one defendant after another if they believed Ms. Pelicot had consented to sex. Many admitted that they had never spoken to her and said that they believed her husband consented for her, a shock to many in France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe would not be here without the Pelicot trial,\u201d Ms. Garin, the lawmaker, said. \u201cIt revealed how big rape culture is in France and, because of that, it became politicly unacceptable to not change something in the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">S\u00e9gol\u00e8ne Le Stradic<!-- --> contributed reporting from Paris.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/01\/france-parliament-consent-rape-law.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many countries require that consent be given before sex \u2014 and have written that into their rape laws. France is not among them. Now, two lawmakers hope to change that. Debate has begun on their bill, and a vote, in the powerful lower house of the French Parliament, is expected on Tuesday. Their cause has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/01\/multimedia\/01int-france-consent-04-pmwl\/01int-france-consent-04-pmwl-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4610,16724,167111,2610,5238,124604,17113,3444,137130,3321,105774,6677,320,175509],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271626"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271626"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271628,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271626\/revisions\/271628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}