Current:Home > ContactActivists call on France to endorse a consent-based rape definition across the entire European Union-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
Activists call on France to endorse a consent-based rape definition across the entire European Union
is lotradecoin safe for beginners View Date:2024-12-25 15:42:17
PARIS (AP) — Activists wearing masks depicting President Emmanuel Macron urged France on Thursday to change its position and endorse a law proposed by the European Union that would define rape as sex without consent in the bloc’s 27 countries.
The demonstrators gathered in downtown Paris on the eve of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to apply pressure on the French head of state.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, proposed legislation last year to make consent-based rape laws consistent across the bloc, and to introduce a common set of penalties.
While other details of the directive, which include a proposal for the criminalization of female genital mutilation and cyberbullying, seem to gather a consensus among the 27 member countries, the definition of rape based on the lack of consent is deeply divisive.
According to Human Rights Watch, only 13 EU member states use consent-based definitions to criminalize rape. Many others still require the use of force, or threat, to mete out punishment. France, for instance, considers that a rape can be considered to have occurred when “an act of sexual penetration or an oral-genital act is committed on a person, with violence, coercion, threat or surprise.”
“I’m here today because it infuriates me to see that our criminal law is not up to the task, that today it allows for rape to happen,” said Sirine Sehil, a criminal law attorney. “It does not take into account our consent, our will, what we, as women, want.”
The Paris action, where a banner said “Only yes means yes,” was organized by groups including nonprofit organization Avaaz and the European Women Lobby, an umbrella group of women’s nongovernmental associations in Europe.
Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to French government officials urging them to agree to the consent-based definition and to take a leading role in negotiations.
“While we recognize that France aims to protect women’s rights and combat violence against women and girls, at present it regrettably remains in the company of member states including Poland and Hungary and lags behind member states such as Spain, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and Greece in amending its criminal law,” the letter says. “This is an opportunity for France to not only take the necessary steps toward meeting its own international human rights obligations, but to lead the entire EU forward in its fight to combat violence against women and girls.”
Some EU countries have also argued that the issue of rape is a matter of criminal law, and therefore falls within the competence of member countries, not the EU.
Many European lawmakers want the definition based on non-consensual sex to be adopted.
“It is the only way to guarantee that all EU countries put into their national law that sex without consent is rape, and that all European women are equally protected,” the Socialists and Democrats group said in a statement.
The pro-Europe Renew Europe group rued the deadlock within the Council of the European Union representing member countries, arguing that the inclusion of sex without consent in the law is crucial to set minimum rules for the offence.
“Without a harmonized definition of rape, this directive would be an empty vase,” said Lucia Duris Nicholsonova, a lawmaker from Slovakia. “We need a common approach across all member states. A woman raped cannot be considered only ‘oversensitive’ in one member state, while in the same case in another member state she would be considered a victim of a crime. We have to fight for all victims to have equal access to justice.”
___
Samuel Petrequin reported from Brussels.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Collin Gosselin Says He Was Discharged from the Marines Due to Being Institutionalized by Mom Kate
- Deli meats and cheeses have been linked to a listeria outbreak in 6 states
- Today’s Climate: August 5, 2010
- Why Christine Quinn's Status With Chrishell Stause May Surprise You After Selling Sunset Feud
- Family of man killed by Connecticut police officer files lawsuit, seeks federal probe of department
- Why Andy Cohen Was Very Surprised by Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann's Divorce
- Today’s Climate: August 13, 2010
- Her miscarriage left her bleeding profusely. An Ohio ER sent her home to wait
- Hurricane Ernesto aims for Bermuda after leaving many in Puerto Rico without power or water
- Chrissy Teigen Reacts to Speculation She Used a Surrogate to Welcome Baby Esti
Ranking
- Biden to designate 1908 Springfield race riot site as national monument
- Kellie Pickler’s Husband Kyle Jacobs' Cause of Death Confirmed by Autopsy
- Chase Sui Wonders Shares Insight Into Very Sacred Relationship With Boyfriend Pete Davidson
- IRS says $1.5 billion in tax refunds remain unclaimed. Here's what to know.
- The State Fair of Texas is banning firearms, drawing threats of legal action from Republican AG
- Get a $49 Deal on $110 Worth of Tarte Makeup That Blurs the Appearance of Pores and Fine Lines
- Kendall Roy's Penthouse on Succession Is Just as Grand (and Expensive) as You'd Imagine
- Keeping Global Warming to 1.5 Degrees Could Spare Millions Pain of Dengue Fever
Recommendation
-
Australian Olympic Committee hits out at criticism of controversial breaker Rachael Gunn
-
A nonprofit says preterm births are up in the U.S. — and it's not a partisan issue
-
New VA study finds Paxlovid may cut the risk of long COVID
-
Meghan Trainor's Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Mom Are Here to Save Mother's Day
-
Emily in Paris' Ashley Park Reveals How Lily Collins Predicted Her Relationship With Costar Paul Forman
-
'Running While Black' tells a new story about who belongs in the sport
-
Climate Forum Reveals a Democratic Party Remarkably Aligned with Science on Zero Emissions
-
A SCOTUS nursing home case could limit the rights of millions of patients