La France insoumise will table a bill aimed at integrating the notion of consent into the criminal definition of sexual assault and rape, announced Tuesday the LFI MP for Paris, Sarah Legrain.
Pointing to
“French failures in the treatment of sexual violence”
, Sarah Legrain accuses
“the current definition of rape and its interpretation”
of being
“one of the reasons why there are many classifications without follow-up today in France, notably cases of astonishment, dissociation or control
.
“I want to submit a legal, political and very symbolic act
,” she added during a press conference.
La France insoumise wants to integrate into article 222-23 of the Penal Code which defines rape, the term
“consent”
which
“cannot be deduced from the simple absence of resistance of the victim”
.
“Contractualization of sexual relations”
A bill to integrate the notion of consent had already been tabled in the fall by environmentalist senator Mélanie Vogel.
Last week, Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti called for
“caution”
in the face of calls for a revision of the criminal definition of rape in France, warning against a
“slide towards contractualization of relationships sexual”
.
“Is it the role of criminal law to define the consent of a victim, instead of focusing on defining the responsibility of a criminal?”
, he declared in particular.
LFI and environmentalists regret that negotiations are failing at European level on a common definition of rape, during discussions on the first European directive against violence against women.
Several countries, including France, oppose the European Commission's project which provides for a definition of rape based on the absence of consent.
In the National Assembly, environmentalist MP Sandrine Rousseau criticized the French position.
“Why”
oppose this Commission project?
“The answers provided by the government lack the most basic clarity.
(...) The government did not want to confront this question
,” she denounces.