![]() The country's top appeals court is this week set to rule on another case involving allegations of child abuse. ![]() The case caused a public outcry in France, where sex between adults and minors has previously often been shrugged off as harmless in cases where the encounter was presented as consensual, usually by the adult. The issue of consent has repeatedly come up for debate since 2018 when it emerged that a 28-year-old man, who had sex with an 11-year-old girl he met in a park, had initially been charged with a lesser sexual offence, not rape. The legislation also cracks down on online paedophilia, with any person caught trying to groom children aged under 15 for sexual acts over the internet facing up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros ($180,000). ![]() The bill, which was the subject of some 300 amendments in the lower house National Assembly, now returns to the Senate for a final vote. The bill does allow for sex between a teen and a young adult up to five years older - a gap criticised by some MPs as too large but which Dupond-Moretti defended, saying he did not want "to put a youngster aged 18 on trial because he had consensual sex with a girl aged fourteen and a half." > 'Finally': France seeks to establish age of consent at 15 ![]() The draft law was initiated by members of the Senate, who had suggested the age of consent be set at 13, which would have been one of the lowest in Europe.īut President Emmanuel Macron's government pushed for it to be set higher. Under current French law, prosecutors had to prove that a minor was forced, threatened or tricked into having sex with an adult in order to bring charges of rape or sexual assault. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said the vote sent a clear message: "Children are off-limits". Under the bill, sex with children under 15 would be considered rape, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, unless there is a small age gap between the two partners. Advocates argue that the long timeline of coming to grips with childhood sexual trauma should take precedence over the typical time limits on criminal accusations.Members of the lower house of parliament voted unanimously to bring France's consent laws in line with most other Western countries, following a wave of allegations of sexual abuse and incest described as France's second #MeToo movement. The current law states that cases can be brought until the victim is 48 years old. After the story broke, French people began sharing their own stories under the hashtag #MeTooInceste.įrance is also looking to remove the statute of limitations on prosecuting perpetrators of childhood sexual abuse. Duhamel’s stepdaughter accused him of abusing her and her twin brother when they were children. A recent scandal accusing former European Parliament member and prominent political scientist Olivier Duhamel of incest have reignited the campaign. ![]() Previous efforts to set the age of consent in France have failed. “An act of sexual penetration by an adult on a minor under 15 will be considered a rape,” Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said on France-2 television on February 9. Though sex with anyone under the age of 15 is illegal, the lack of an age of consent could be used as a way around harsh punishments. French officials are looking to draw a hard line beyond which all sexual activity will be considered non-consensual. Previously, French defendants accused of sexual assault of a minor could cite consent as a way to lessen their sentencing. According to CBS News, the head of the country’s Justice Ministry announced that they would push to pass an age of consent of 15. Amid public pressure to prosecute sexual abuse of children, France might set its age of consent for the first time. ![]()
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