The French Parliament should debate the modification of the right of rape to include consent

Many countries require consent to be given before sex – and have written it in their rape laws. France is not among them.

Now, two legislators hope to change this, and they got closer Tuesday evening when the lower chamber of the French Parliament adopted a bill that widens the definition of rape to include non -consensual penetration.

Their cause gained ground after a horrible trial last fall in which dozens of men were found guilty of having violated Gisèle Pelicot while it was in a deeply druged state.

“This is a starting point, not one last,” said Marie-Charlotte Garin, one of the two legislators who proposed the bill to the National Assembly after the vote. “We are going from a culture of rape to a culture of consent, and it is the first stone that we are launching against the wall of impunity.”

The bill will be debated from the upper chamber.

Here is some information on the reasons why the change is suggested and that is opposed.

How does France define rape and why change the definition?

French law defines rape as any form of sexual penetration committed on another person – woman or man – by violence, constraint, threat or surprise.