France enshrines need for consent into rape law in wake of Gisèle Pelicot case

[IwantToRetire]

The French parliament has ratified an amendment to add consent to the legal definition of sexual assault and rape law.

Previously, rape or sexual abuse in France had been defined as "any form of sexual penetration committed with the use of violence, coercion, threat or surprise".

Now, the law will say that all sexual acts done to another without consent constitute rape.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9d3ldgg5vo

Good - but shameful they’re only just doing this now.

Her bravery continues to reverberate.

About time.

👏🏻

About bloody time. But what an amazing woman she is, her courage has changed the law.

About time too, it's shocking it's taken so long. Gisele is a wonderful woman, this is her legacy to the women of France.

Insane that it has taken this to force the change in their outdated laws. But what an incredible woman, her power and strength will resonate for generations to come.

Grace à Mme Gisèle. Bravo Madame!!!

I hope Mme Gisèle now has the opportunity to rebuild her life in peace and honour. And that she and her children become reconciled. That vile man destroyed so much for them.

Who would have thought it has only just dawned on the French that consent is needed.

Finally.

Astounding that it's taken this long, but their sexual offences laws overall have a rather poor history.

French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot reveals pain, resilience in memoirs

Ahead of her 2024 trial in Avignon, in a decision that turned her into a public figure, she declined the right to have the hearings behind closed doors, saying she wanted the world to know what she had been subjected to.

"When I think back to the moment I made my decision, I realise that if I had been 20 years younger, I might not have dared to refuse a closed session," she wrote, according to the extract.

"I would have been afraid of the stares, those damned stares that a woman of my generation has always had to deal with," she added.

She said she was now a "happy woman", having found love again in a new relationship as she rebuilt her life on the blustery French Atlantic island of Ile de Re.

In an early review, Le Monde praised the book, saying: "Gisele Pelicot tells her story without bravado or self-pity."

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/french-rape-survivor-gisele-pelicot-154333628.html

What an amazing woman.

Bumping only because maybe I should have made it a new thread.

Wow

I will definitely buy her book.

And buy some for gifts too.

This has me a bit teary earliet today.

Only saw extracts, not yet had time to watch the whole interview.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002rl8t/gisele-pelicot-the-newsnight-interview

Long interview here too: https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/gisele-pelicot-british-vogue-interview

Her ex-husband stated that he had wanted to "force an insubmissive woman in to submission"

Full article at https://observer.co.uk/style/features/article/gisele-pelicot-and-the-language-of-rape-culture

Also in full at https://archive.is/nNy57