France steps closer to defining rape as lack of consent
The vote comes several months after a court in Avignon found a French man guilty of drugging his wife so he and strangers could rape her.
The case drew renewed attention to the widespread crime of rape and the issue of consent.
The bill passed this week redefines all sexual assaults -- including rape -- as "any non-consensual act".
France's lower house of parliament approved a slightly different version of the bill in April.
Wednesday's vote is not the final legislative hurdle. A joint committee of senators and lower-house MPs is expected to draft a joint text prior to the final adoption of the law in both houses.
"Consent is not saying no," said Equality Minister Aurore Berge, but "saying yes, an explicit yes, freely, without constraint or ambiguity".
The vote is a "decisive step towards a genuine culture of consent", she added.
The bill passed by both chambers defines consent as "free and informed, specific, prior and revocable", adding that it "cannot be inferred from the victim's silence or lack of reaction alone".
France's current legal definition of rape defines it as "any act of sexual penetration... by violence, constraint, threat or surprise" but this bill would specify that there is "no consent" under these conditions.
While Wednesday's vote shows an emerging consensus, some lawmakers and activists have expressed concerns about the change.
Advocates say this will enable the law to better hold perpetrators accountable.
But opponents say they fear the change will lead investigators to focus excessively on the victim's behaviour.
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France 24
42 minutes ago
- France 24
'Like the sky was torn open': At Turkey border, Iranians recall terror in Tehran
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Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
USAID budget cuts emboldened Russian disinfo, Ukrainian media say
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"The goal of distributing the newspapers was not to generate a profit, but to ensure that people living in occupied territories and front-line regions got the news," Hnatchenko said. "It's impossible to offer a subscription service in these areas, because people don't know where they will be from one day to the next due to the constant shelling." "Many grandmothers would walk to humanitarian hubs by foot as they were determined to get the newspaper," added Hnatchenko. This has now come to a halt due to a lack of funds. US grants previously made up 50% of the Slobidskyi Kray's funding — while nine out of 10 local Ukrainian outlets were also heavily reliant on USAID. Hnatchenko fears that cuts to USAID are playing into the hands of the Kremlin, leaving many vulnerable individuals who are exposed to Russian disinformation, with no alternative news sources. "It's a real issue, we can no longer afford to deliver our newspapers to areas which have no electricity or access to Ukrainian news. 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"Some outlets are running with only a few weeks of financing left, while others have said they can online survive until June," Maufrais added. Vgoru Media, based in Kherson — a city on the front lines of the war which was occupied by Russia for a period of nine months — previously relied on USAID to fund 80% of its projects. "We have had to cut big projects, such as our documentary telling the story of women who were kidnapped and tortured by Russia, as all the funding was from USAID," Ustyn Danchuk, head of video journalism at Gwara Media told Euronews. "We had already made 60% of the film when the cuts were implemented — but we hadn't even been paid for that work," he explained. Many Vgoru journalists left Kherson when it was under Russian occupation, fearing being captured and tortured. Since they have returned, they must live with the daily threat of missiles, as well as constant fear. For Danchuk, reporting and ensuring that locals don't fall for Russian disinformation is key. 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In Barcelona, Lisbon and Naples, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets on Sunday to call for an end to what they call the "touristification" of their cities. But why are holidaymakers such a source of tension? Sandra Carvão, Director of Economic Intelligence, Policy and Competitiveness at UN Tourism, told Euronews that mass tourism has soared in recent years due to "more disposable income among the middle classes in many accessible travel in terms of air capacity but also in terms of air fares" and "border crossing facilities that have changed radically over the decades". The number of international tourist arrivals has risen from 416 million in 2005 to more than 747 million in 2024, according to UN Tourism. Between 2019 and 2024, the number of international tourist arrivals rose by 18.1% in Portugal, 12.3% in Spain and 12.2% in France, according to the UN agency. In Italy, on the other hand, tourist arrivals fell by 10.5% over the same period. On the plus side, the influx of visitors generates jobs and revenue for tourist regions. "It's an employment-intensive sector, so it creates lots and lots of jobs. More than 50% of these jobs are held by than 80% of tourism businesses are SMEs," Carvão said. In 2023, Spain earned €80 billion from international tourists, according to UN Tourism. France earned €61 billion, while Italy and Portugal earned €47 and €23 billion respectively from international tourists in 2023. Traffic jams, saturated city centres, rising rents: mass tourism is causing a host of problems for local residents. The proliferation of short-term furnished accommodation is contributing to soaring property prices, increasingly pricing locals out of the property market. Between 2015 and 2023, property prices rose by an average of 48% in the European Union, according to Eurostat data. These increases were highest in Hungary (+172.5%) and lowest in Finland (+5%). House prices rose by 105.8% in Portugal, 47.7% in Spain, 31.3% in France and 8.3% in Italy over the same period. Other factors are also to blame, such as the rise in construction costs and the increase in rental investment. Some municipalities, victims of their own success, have taken the problem head-on. Amsterdam has banned the construction of new hotels and Dubrovnik has limited the number of cruise ships that can dock daily. "The sector itself needs to define the carrying capacity in certain destinations," says Carvão. "In this situation, new technologies help because you can do a lot with tracking people's movements. You can have more data and you can have better information." "There are policies that involve diversifying demand throughout the year so that fewer people travel at specific times, so there is less pressure on the destination's resources," she added. Holidaymakers can also take action by choosing less saturated destinations. In fact, 42% of tourists are concentrated in just 10 countries worldwide.
Local France
2 hours ago
- Local France
France steps closer to defining rape as lack of consent
The vote comes several months after a court in Avignon found a French man guilty of drugging his wife so he and strangers could rape her. The case drew renewed attention to the widespread crime of rape and the issue of consent. The bill passed this week redefines all sexual assaults - including rape - as "any non-consensual act". France's lower house of parliament approved a slightly different version of the bill in April. Advertisement Wednesday's vote is not the final legislative hurdle. A joint committee of senators and lower-house MPs is expected to draft a joint text prior to the final adoption of the law in both houses. "Consent is not saying no," said Equality Minister Aurore Berge, but "saying yes, an explicit yes, freely, without constraint or ambiguity". The vote is a "decisive step towards a genuine culture of consent", she added. The bill passed by both chambers defines consent as "free and informed, specific, prior and revocable", adding that it "cannot be inferred from the victim's silence or lack of reaction alone". France's current legal definition of rape defines it as "any act of sexual penetration... by violence, constraint, threat or surprise" but this bill would specify that there is "no consent" under these conditions. While Wednesday's vote shows an emerging consensus, some lawmakers and activists have expressed concerns about the change. Advocates say this will enable the law to better hold perpetrators accountable. But opponents say they fear the change will lead investigators to focus excessively on the victim's behaviour. Consent-based rape laws already exist in several European countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
