France enshrines need for consent into rape law in wake of Gisèle Pelicot case

The French Parliament approved an amendment to add approval to the legal definition of sexual assault and rape law.

Previously, rape or sexual assault in France was defined as “any form of sexual penetration carried out using violence, coercion, threat or surprise.”

Now, the law will state that all sexual acts performed with another person without their consent constitute rape.

The change was the result of a years-long cross-party debate which took on renewed importance after the Bellicot rape trial last year, in which 50 men were found guilty of rape. Giselle Bellicot was raped while her husband, Dominique, drugged her unconscious.

The defense of several of the accused relied on the fact that they could not be guilty of rape because they were not aware that Mrs Bellicott was not in a position to give consent.

Therefore, some defense lawyers in the Bellicote case argued that there could not be a crime without an intention to commit it.

The new bill will make this argument even weaker, because it states that consent must be “free, informed, specific, prior and revocable.”

The law now states that consent must be assessed according to the circumstances, noting that it cannot be inferred from “silence or lack of response”.

The law states: “There is no consent if the sexual act is committed by violence, coercion, threat or surprise, whatever its nature.”

The two MPs who drafted the amendment – Marie-Charlotte Garin of the Green Party and Veronique Ryuton of the centrist – said a “historic victory” had been achieved and hailed “a major step forward in the fight against sexual violence”.

Some critics of the amendment said it would turn sexual relations into “contracts.” Others expressed concern that the changes could force rape victims to prove they did not consent.

But France’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, said in March that it supported the amendment, saying it would “clearly express…that sexual assaults violate the fundamental principle of the personal and sexual freedom of every individual.”

The National Assembly adopted a preliminary version in April. Its progress was delayed by the current political turmoil in France, but on Wednesday the Senate finally adopted the bill with 327 votes and 15 abstentions. Then it returned to Parliament, which gave it final approval.

Last year, Green Party Senator Melanie Vogel said that although society had “already accepted the fact that the difference between sex and rape is consent” the criminal law had not kept pace.

“It is a historic step forward, following in the footsteps of many other European countries,” Lola Shulman, Amnesty International’s advocacy officer in France, told AFP on Wednesday.

Sweden, Germany and Spain are among the European countries that already have consent-based rape laws.