a parliamentary report proposes adding the notion of non-consent

“It’s time to act” : a parliamentary report, published this Tuesday, recommends integrating the notion of non-consent into the criminal definition of rape, relaunching the debate on an issue which divides both among legal professionals and in the ranks of feminist associations. “So that closed” the Mazan rape trial “which has in many ways been the trial of rape culture, it is time to act”considers in its final report the fact-finding mission on “the criminal definition of rape” led by the women's rights delegation of the National Assembly.

Faced with a “sexual crime that is not decreasing” et “a climate of impunity that persists”this mission, whose conclusions should lead to a proposed law, proposes to“integrate the notion of non-consent into the criminal definition of rape and sexual assault”. “The new definition must clarify that consent is specific, must be given freely and can be withdrawn at any time”further specifies the report which must be presented by deputies Véronique Riotton (Together for the Republic) and Marie-Charlotte Garin (Europe-Ecologie Les Verts).

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Currently, article 222-23 of the penal code defines rape as “any act of sexual penetration, of whatever nature, or any oral-genital act committed on the person of another or on the person of the perpetrator by violence, coercion, threat or surprise”. These four criteria – violence, constraint, threat, surprise – will be retained, specifies the report. The idea is to add the notion of non-consent so that the “case of astonishment, coercive control or exploitation of vulnerable situations” which are not at present “not explicitly covered by law”.

Concerns

Because today, “lack of clear definition”the “consent is often exploited by the attackers (“I couldn't have known”, “She didn't say anything”), which fuels stereotypes about rape, complicates the filing of complaints and leads to numerous dismissals, at least detriment of the victims”highlights the parliamentary mission. For the rapporteurs, the current definition also contributes “to the maintenance of societal prejudices about what a 'good' victim is (one who resists, struggles, is 'exemplary' in their behavior), a 'real' rape (with violence and coercion, by a monstrous and/or foreign individual ).»

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The question of a criminal redefinition of rape, to which Emmanuel Macron said he was in favor, is not unanimous in France. Its opponents warn in particular against a reversal of the burden of proof when others are worried about a “shift towards contractualization of sexual relations”. Even within feminist associations, the question divides. On the one hand, those who defend the reform, believing that taking into account the notion of consent would only be the application of the Istanbul Convention, ratified in 2014 by France. On the other, those who are concerned about the failure to take into account situations in which consent is extorted and coerced.

“Magic wand”

“We are not saying that everything is simple and binary. What we say is that rape cannot be characterized solely by violence, threat, coercion and surprise, because that leaves hundreds of thousands of victims behind, and that, This is not acceptable”emphasizes to AFP Marie-Charlotte Garin. “What we want to change is the way of carrying out the investigation”indicates for her part Véronique Riotton. “We give different tools to the security forces and the magistrates to be able to sanction differently”.

In its report, the mission recognizes that the reform “will not have the effect of a magic wand on sexual violence” and that she must not “to dispense with a global, ambitious and funded plan to combat sexual violence and rape culture”. In 2022, 230,000 women were victims of rape, attempted rape and/or sexual assault in France, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.