Translated material
France decides to consider sex with children under 15 to be rape
The French government has decided to amend the legislation, according to which sex with a child under 15 years old will be considered rape. This was stated by Secretary of State for Equality Marlene Schyappa.
Under current law, such an act is regarded as child molestation and is punishable by five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros, just like sexual assault against adults.
The punishment for raping a child under 15 in France is 20 years in prison. It is possible to attract a person under this article only if it is proved that he forced the child to have sex, writes BBC News.
According to Shyappa, now "there will be no discussion about the child's consent to sex."
The restriction will be approved by the government in the coming weeks along with other laws against sexual violence and sexism.
- The issue of the age of consent in France has come to the fore after two recent trials of men who were tried for having sex with 11-year-old girls. In both cases, the court refused to prosecute them for the rapes because it was not proven that they forced the children to have sex (one of these decisions was later overturned).