integrate consent into the law to respond to a societal demand – Libération

This Thursday, parliamentarians are examining a bill aimed at integrating consent into the definition of rape. For lawyers William Bourdon, Vincent Brengarth and Lily Ravon, we must catch up with other countries.

After the deep imprint already left by the Dominique Pelicot affair, whose trial is about to end, it is the Nicolas Bedos affair which has recently placed violence against women at the center of the debate. However, unlike the first, whose cruelty legitimately aroused unanimous support for the complainant, the second case reveals, on the contrary, a France which seems to be divided in two: on the one hand, a societal desire for judicial evolution is expressed. in the face of too much violence against women, and on the other hand there are concerns about a weakening of the presumption of innocence.

Legitimate concerns, but too often used to prohibit any public debate on the existence of charges, from a stronger when the accused have a certain notoriety. And who, systematically, adopt a strategy of denying the non-consent of the complainants.

However, one observation stands out to a majority today: that of a development made urgent by the spillover of victims' words outside the courts,