Should consent be introduced into the legal definition of rape? And how? The question has been debated in France's feminist and political circles for several months. Now, it is being put to the country's lawmakers. Members of the Assemblée Nationale were to debate on first reading, on Tuesday, April 1, a bill "aiming at modifying the legal definition of rape and sexual assault," which incorporates the notion of conent. The bill is being championed by MPs Véronique Riotton (of Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party) and Marie-Charlotte Garin (Green). Both of them were the rapporteurs for an information mission on the legal definition of rape, launched within the Delegation for Women's Rights of the Assemblée Nationale. Their mission's conclusion was in favor of this development.

With the arrival of the bill in the chamber, a new phase of both legal and societal reflection on the handling and status of sexual violence is launched. The debate was reignited by the significant impact of the landmark trial of the dozens men who raped Gisèle Pelicot, at the end of 2024. Political figures within the successive governments under President Emmanuel Macron spoke out at the time in support of rewriting the legal definition of rape. Macron himself voiced his support for it on March 8, 2024.

You have 76.57% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.