Pallade Veneta - France expected to adopt consent-based rape law

The final vote comes after members of France's lower house, the National Assembly, approved the bill Thursday by 155 votes to 31, paving the way for its adoption by the Senate.

The measure defines rape as any "non-consensual act", enshrining the principle of consent into the definition of the crime.

The text signals a move "from a culture of rape to a culture of consent", said centrist lawmaker Veronique Riotton after the bill she co-sponsored passed the lower house last week.

Consent, the text says, must be "free and informed, specific, prior and revocable", and evaluated in light of the circumstances, noting that it cannot be inferred from "silence or lack of reaction".

"There is no consent if the sexual act is committed through violence, coercion, threat or surprise, whatever their nature," it states, incorporating wording already used in France's current legal definition of rape.

Advocacy groups welcomed the reform, while stressing it must be accompanied by deeper societal change.

"This is a historic step forward, following in the footsteps of several other European countries," Lola Schulmann, advocacy officer at Amnesty International France, told AFP.

"But it is only one step, because we know that there is still a long way to go to end impunity for gender-based and sexual violence," she added.

Women's rights group CIDFF called for the reform to be accompanied by improved sex education, training for justice and police officials, and increased resources for support groups.

Consent-based rape laws already exist in several European countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.

- 'A real yes' -

The bill comes after the case of Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot reignited a debate over consent in the country.

Her ex-husband was convicted of drugging her and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her during their marriage.

Only far-right lawmakers, who criticised the changing definition of consent as "subjective, shifting and difficult to grasp", opposed the bill in the lower house.

National Rally lawmaker Sophie Blanc said the change would put the focus on the victim's actions, "not the violence of the perpetrator".

But supporters of the reform say it will shift the burden onto offenders to prove there was consent, said centre-right lawmaker Emilie Bonnivard.

"When it's not no, it doesn't mean yes," said Green lawmaker Marie-Charlotte Garin, co-sponsor of the bill, after it passed.

"When it's yes, it must be a real yes... giving in will never again be consent," she said.

F.Dodaro--PV