During a filmed exchanged with the head of a feminist organisation, Macron said he was in favour of enshrining a notion of consent, as it pertains to rape and sexual violence, within the French law.
“I am going to enshrine it within the law,” Macron said on International Women’s Day (March 8th), while speaking with Violaine Lucas, the head of the association, Choisir la cause des femmes, which was founded by the feminist lawyer Gisèle Halimi.
Advertisement
The video of the interaction was published on social media.
In an interview with AFP, Lucas said: “If he does [enshrine ‘consent’ in the law], then it is good news.”
However, in the days following, the president did not make any further comments about the topic and the Élysée Palace refused to respond to questions from the French media.
Macron’s response came after Lucas questioned him on failing to support an EU initiative in December that would have created a common definition for rape.
France reportedly opposed the plan largely on technical grounds, as criminal law falls under the authority of states, not the European Union.
Currently, France’s criminal law (code Article 222-23) defines rape as “any act of sexual penetration of any kind or any oral or genital act committed on the victim or forced onto the perpetrator by violence, coercion, threat or surprise”.
Other European countries have attempted to pass sexual consent legislation.
In 2022, Spain put forward an ‘only yes means yes’ (sólo sí es sí) law, which was intended to tighten sexual consent laws – however in practice the poorly-designed law has led to the reduction of sentences and even release of some sexual offenders.
READ MORE: How Spain is trying to fix its new trouble-ridden sexual consent law
Source: thelocal.fr
