It is nicknamed the "Romeo and Juliet clause", in reference to the work of William Shakespeare, whose eponymous characters are several years apart.
It will be examined from Monday in the National Assembly, like the rest of the bill against sexual crimes against minors.
The general principle of the text is henceforth to automatically consider as rape any penetration or oral genital act committed by an adult on a young person under 15 years old, "even if these acts were not imposed by violence".
But the bill also specifies that this automaticity will not apply if the two protagonists are less than five years apart.
A provision introduced to preserve the “proportional” nature of the text, and therefore its conformity with the Constitution, explained to AFP its rapporteur, Alexandra Louis (LREM).
Preserving teenage couples
Basically, the stake is to preserve the agreed adolescent loves and to avoid the automatic criminalization of a relationship between a young adult and a teenager barely younger than him.
The Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, himself explained in February that “the young man of 17 and a half, who has a relationship with a young girl of 14 and a half, cannot become a criminal when he is 18 years old and one day ”.
READ ALSO>
5 minutes to understand the debate around the age of consent
In February, the government had hinted that the clause would apply to relations that would have started before the oldest reaches his majority, but this precision does not finally appear in the text which arrives Monday before the National Assembly.
Thus, "we also protect the consensual relationships that would begin just after" the eighteenth birthday of the oldest protagonist, "argues Alexandra Louis.
The law "must be general and be able to apply to all particular cases", and the five-year gap is relevant to tolerate, for example, a relationship between a young person aged "18 and one day" and another of " 14 years and 11 months, ”continues the member.
After months of work, I made 77 recommendations to better fight against sexual and gender-based violence, especially that against children #LoiSchiappa
➡️ Better protect, fight against impunityhttps: //t.co/R0h6V4765U
- Alexandra Louis (@ ALouisDeputee13) December 4, 2020
In any case, the “Romeo and Juliet” clause will not prevent the prosecution of rape or sexual assault, even if the age gap is less than five years, wants to reassure Alexandra Louis.
In this case, the new law will certainly not apply, but the judges will be able to continue, as at present, to take into account the circumstances to consider that the minor was not consenting.
Concretely, "if an 18-year-old boy takes advantage of the alcoholization of a 14-year-old girl to rape her in her sleep, he will have no impunity: we can always claim that she has been raped", also emphasizes Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, a lawyer specializing in the defense of victims of sexual violence.
Condemn the hold
For this lawyer, "what must be incriminated is the fact that an adult puts in place a hold or a moral constraint and takes advantage of his maturity to constrain a young person", which is not a priori the case. in a relationship between a 14-year-old girl and an 18-year-old boy.
In addition, this clause will prevent "unfairly traumatic" proceedings, which would be brought by the parents of the minor because they disapprove of the romantic relationship of their teenager - sometimes because of a difference in religion, culture, or because the relationship is homosexual.
Such situations are not uncommon, and it is therefore necessary to ensure that "young people who love each other do not become perpetrators of sexual violence", underlines Martine Brousse, president of the association La Voix de l'Enfant. , who would however have preferred that the age gap be set at three years maximum, instead of five.
Politics Newsletter
Our analyzes and indiscretions on power
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
Deputy Alexandra Louis also intends to table an amendment so that the “Romeo and Juliet” clause is not applicable to relationships where a minor under 15 years of age is prostituted.
For its part, the association Face à incest made it clear on its Twitter account that this clause did not apply to incestuous relationships.
3) the "Romeo and Juliet" clause which aims to preserve the relations between adolescents on the day one of them reaches the age of majority, will not apply in the case of #incest.
It is clearly less worrying than the other two.
pic.twitter.com/6hvl82bC7R
- Facing incest (ex AIVI) (@Facealinceste) February 11, 2021
But this clause does not make people happy.
The collective association for the child claims, on its Twitter account, that this amendment is not voted and explain to prefer that the adult of the couple “prove the relationship followed”.
A point of view shared by the Enfance Majuscule association.
In addition to this clause, the bill aimed at strengthening the protection of minors against sexual violence also provides, among other things, to define the threshold of non-consent at 15 years, to define "incestuous rape" and to extend the limitation period in certain conditions.