The French government is seeking to enshrine in law 15 as the minimum age at which a person can legally consent to sex with an adult, after prominent cases of incestuous abuse led to a national reckoning with sexual violence against children.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti announced Tuesday evening that he would seek to criminalize any “act of sexual penetration” by an adult of a minor under the age of 15. Currently, French law defines the crime of rape as sexual penetration “under violence, duress, threat or surprise,” regardless of age. A sexual act with a child under the age of 15 without any of these circumstances is an offense with a lighter maximum penalty than rape.
The legislative changes should be implemented “over the three next months,” a justice ministry spokesperson told POLITICO’s Playbook Paris. They will come in the form of amendments to a bill on sexual violence against minors that has already passed the French Senate.
Dupont-Moretti said the law would contain an exception that will allow teenagers in relationships to have sexual intercourse when one of them turns 18, with a five-year age buffer.
France has been shaken by a series of incestuous abuse allegations, notably including some against one of the country’s best-connected political scientists, Olivier Duhamel. Many victims, including MP Bruno Questel, have shared their stories of sexual abuse, alongside the hashtag #MetooInceste.
The French government said in a statement it wanted to reinforce the legal arsenal to tackle incestuous abuse, but hasn’t shared specifics yet.
