The European Parliament (EP) decried the decision of Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz and other ministers, to deny the proposal to define rape only according to consent across the EU. Members of the EP gathered on the 23rd of November to demand its implementation.
Friction has sparked from within the European Union, as countries are unable to agree on a definition of rape.
On one side, many member states have proposed to establish rape as a matter of consent across the EU. In other words, they want all cases of intercourse, in which one of the parties does not expressly give consent, to be considered rape. On the other, some heads of state favor definitions that include “threat, coercion, surprise or violence” as necessary to constitute rape, as in France for example.
The EU chose not to enforce a definition of rape that considered it a matter of only consent in May 2023. They considered that this definition would be too extensive as a minimum rule for what constitutes rape legally. An EU source told us the countries Luxembourg, Italy, Greece and Belgium made a joint statement showing disagreement with the decision, saying it was due to a “lack of political ambition.”
Members (MEPs) of the European Parliament gathered and protested the decision on November 23rd, commemorating the official Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. They criticized several heads of state who refused the provision.
Macron and EU ministers rejected that rape is only about expressed consent
The legislative process of the EU is divided mainly between the European Commission (EC), the European Parliament (EP) and the Council of the European Union (CEU). The EC chooses what topics to make laws about. The EP is made up of party representatives who help draft proposals for new laws. The EP drafted a package including several laws regarding violence against women, including changing the definition of rape.
“The proposal includes the criminalization of […] rape based on a lack of consent, female genital mutilation, the non-consensual sharing of intimate and manipulated material, as well as cyber harassment and cyber incitement to violence or hatred,” said Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission to the EP on November 23rd.
The CEU is made up of ministers and heads of state from member states’ governments that can either approve or deny proposed law changes. The CEU approved most of the provisions from the proposal on May 17th, with the exception of the change of the definition of rape. France and Germany were among the countries that define rape according to specific conditions other than just consent.
“It is shameful that governments like those in France and Germany still refuse to understand that only ‘yes’ means ‘yes’,” said Evin Incir, MEP from Sweden, on the 23rd of November.
One of the Dutch MEPs, Bert-Jan Ruissen, also complained that one of the provisions criminalized trying to prevent abortions.
Sexual violence in the EU
The CEU acknowledges the urgency of violence against women, and approved measures supporting victims of sexual violence.
“Violence against women and girls is a stain on our society,” said Gunnar Strömmer, Swedish minister for justice. “This draft legislation is a strong confirmation of EU action to guarantee that offenses such as female genital mutilation, cyber stalking and cyber harassment will not go unpunished, and that victims of violence against women and domestic violence will get the necessary support and protection.”
At least two women a week are killed in the EU by an intimate partner or family member, as per the European Commission.
The definition of rape remains contested in the EU.
“The year is 2023, and still a majority of our Member States refuse to include the most important legislation as a part of the package — a consent-based definition of rape,” said Incir. She also said that rape sentences had increased by 75% in Sweden since defining rape only by consent.
Though rape sentences increased in Sweden, cases of reported rape also increased since 2018, from 7,900 to 9,600 cases in 2022. Overall, in Europe, sexual violence reports have increased from 2018 to 2021 as per Eurostat. This may be accounted for by the widening of the definition of rape in several countries.
This year, the EU decided to join the Istanbul Convention, a set of directives and goals to reduce violence against women. One of the tenets of the Istanbul Convention is the criminalization of all non-consensual sex, which gets to the heart of the issue debated in the EU. The EU has endorsed the Istanbul Convention but has not adopted the Convention’s definition of rape.