National Assembly Approves Bill Redefining Rape as a ‘Non-Consensual Sexual Act’ After Pelicot Case.

On Thursday, the French National Assembly approved the inclusion of the notion of “consent” in every sexual relationship to determine whether a person is a victim of rape, integrating that concept into the criminal definition of the offense.

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The bill adopted in the lower house redefines rape as a “non-consensual sexual act.” The measure must still be approved by the Senate on Oct. 29.

The decision follows the high-profile Pelicot case, in which Gisele Pelicot was raped from 2011 to 2020 under chemical submission by her then-husband and dozens of strangers he invited, taking advantage of her unconscious state after secretly drugging her. In that trial, Pelicot’s lack of consent was at the center of the judicial debate.

After a lengthy parliamentary process, 155 out of 186 lawmakers voted in favor of including the concept of consent in determining rape.

“Feminist victories are beautiful victories and collective victories,” Green Party lawmaker Marie-Charlotte Garin said in the National Assembly, expressing gratitude “to the victims who spoke out before, when it was difficult to talk about this issue.”

In January, Garin and Macronist lawmaker Veronique Riotton introduced the bill to amend the criminal definitions of rape and sexual assault. The text was approved last spring by the National Assembly and later by the Senate, though with slightly different versions. A joint committee was therefore convened, which met and reached a common formulation.

Under the reform, Article 222-22 of the Penal Code — which currently defines sexual assault as “any sexual assault committed through violence, coercion, threat, or surprise” — will be reworded as follows: “A sexual assault constitutes any non-consensual sexual act committed against another person or by the perpetrator.” This phrase applies to the crime of rape, explicitly mentioned in the second paragraph of the current article.

The new legislation also specifies that “consent is free and informed, specific, prior, and revocable. It is assessed based on the circumstances. It cannot be inferred solely from the victim’s silence or lack of reaction.”

Additionally, an extra paragraph reiterates the four legal elements associated with sexual assault and rape, linking them to the newly introduced notion: “There is no consent if a sexual act is committed through violence, coercion, threat, or surprise, regardless of its nature,” the text states. The reform also adds the explicit illegality of any forced oral-anal act.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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