France revamps rape law after Gisele Pelicot case

By Juliette Jabkhiro

PARIS (Reuters) -Senators approved changes to France's rape law on Wednesday to include consent, bringing the legislation more into line with more than a dozen other European countries in a move that was given new impetus by the Gisele Pelicot mass rape trial.

French criminal law has until now defined rape as a penetrative act or oral sex act committed on someone using "violence, coercion, threat or surprise". It did not make clear mention of the need for consent and prosecutors had to prove the intention to rape to secure a guilty verdict.

Last December Gisele Pelicot's husband admitted to a court in southern France that he had repeatedly drugged his wife and recruited dozens of men online to rape her while she was unconscious.

At least 35 of Dominique Pelicot's co-accused denied the rape charges, arguing before the court that they were taking part in a sex game or that Gisele Pelicot was feigning sleep. All were found guilty but their attempts to evade justice shone a spotlight on a grey zone in the law.

The new law, which requires President Emmanuel Macron's signature before taking effect, states that consent must be "freely given and informed... and able to be withdrawn". Consent must be assessed "in light of the surrounding circumstances" and "cannot be presumed from mere silence or the absence of resistance on the part of the victim", the new law says.

RAPE CONVICTIONS WILL BECOME EASIER, SAYS LEGAL EXPERT

The revamped definition should help secure convictions, Catherine Le Magueresse, a legal expert and advocate for the new law, told Reuters.

"(Previously) if we could show in a case that there wasn't consent, but the attacker didn't use violence, coercion, threat or surprise, that person could not be found guilty," she said.

A consent-based definition would also help educate young men and women on the "reciprocity of desire".

France joins Sweden, Germany, Spain, Britain and a number of other European countries, where consent-based rape law already exists. The rise of the feminist #MeToo movement has prompted legislative reform in some jurisdictions since 2017.

The shift had long been debated in France. Some women's rights activists have cautioned that focusing on consent could place undue scrutiny on the victim's behaviour and words, rather than the attacker. They argue that a person could say "yes" without wanting to.

In a joint statement, lawmakers Marie-Charlotte Garin of the Greens party and centrist Veronique Riotton, who championed the bill, hailed a "historic victory" but said the fight against sexual violence was not over.

"The resources of the justice system, support organisations, and law enforcement must be strengthened; victim support must be improved; sexual education must be effectively implemented," they said.

(Reporting by Juliette JabkhiroEditing by Richard Lough and Gareth Jones)