Wednesday, December 4, 2024

France allows sexual consent age to be 15; incestuous sex is rape





The French parliament on Thursday adopted legislation that characterizes the minimum age of sexual consent at 15. 

While calling it “historic”, the Justice Minister, Eric Dupond-Moretti, informed that the law will make sex with a child under the age of 15 rape and punishable by up to 20 years in jail unless there is a small age gap between the two partners.

“No adult aggressor will be able to claim the consent of a minor younger than 15-years-old,” he told the National Assembly.

The legislation also considers incestuous sex with a minor under 18 to be rape.

Earlier there was no formal age of consent which means that children can legally be considered capable of consenting to sex. Prosecutors had to prove that a minor was forced, threatened, or tricked into having sex with an adult to bring charges of rape or sexual assault. Also, they were given lighter punishments.

Although, the bill does allow for sex between a teen and a young adult up to five years older. While the gap was criticized by many MPs, Moretti, citing the reasons, said, “I did not want to put a youngster aged 18 on trial because he had consensual sex with a girl aged fourteen and a half.” 

The age of consent bill comes two years after France toughened laws against sex crimes, and extended the statute of limitations for rape against a minor from 20 to 30 years. 

while it was been a matter of concern for the last two years, the major push for the bill to be passed came in January this year when earlier this year, the daughter of France’s former foreign minister Bernard Kouchner published a book in which she revealed how her stepfather accused her and her twin brother. 

 


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