The French Senate has passed a bill that would change the legal definition of rape to add a clear reference to consent, bringing the country in line with several European neighbours.A joint committee of senators and lower-house MPs is now expected to draft a joint text prior to its final adoption.
The French Senate passed a bill late on Wednesday that includes lack of consent in the country's criminal definition ofrape, paving the way for its official adoption in the coming months.
The vote comes several months after a court in Avignon found a French man guilty of drugging his ex-wifeGisle Pelicotso he and strangers could rape her, in a case that has shocked the nation and made headlines around the world.
The case drew renewed attention to the widespread crime of rape and the issue of consent, with critics described French legislation as outdated.
Read moreFull coverage of the Pelicot mass rape trial
The bill passed this week redefines all sexual assaults including rape as "any non-consensual act".
France's lower house of parliament approved a slightly different version of the bill in April.
Wednesday's vote is not the final legislative hurdle. A joint committee of senators and lower-house MPs is expected to draft a joint text prior to the final adoption of the law in both houses.
"Consent is not saying no," said Equality Minister Aurore Berg, but "saying yes, an explicit yes, freely, without constraint or ambiguity".
The vote is a "decisive step towards a genuine culture of consent", she added.
Focus on the victim
The bill passed by both chambers defines consent as "free and informed, specific, prior and revocable", adding that it "cannot be inferred from the victim's silence or lack of reaction alone".
France's current legal definition of rape defines it as "any act of sexual penetration... by violence, constraint, threat or surprise" but this bill would specify that there is "no consent" under these conditions.
While Wednesday's vote shows an emerging consensus, some lawmakers and activists have expressed concerns about the change.
Advocates say this will enable the law to better hold perpetrators accountable.
But opponents say they fear the change will lead investigators to focus excessively on the victim's behaviour.
Consent-based rape laws already exist in several European countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Originally published on France24
