French justice minister says he’s open to adding consent to legal definition of rape

PARIS — It may have taken a horrifying mass rape trial for France to include the notion of consent in its legislation.

New Justice Minister Didier Migaud said on Friday during an interview on radio station France Inter that he was in favor of rewriting the legal definition of rape in France to include consent.

French law currently defines rape as “any act of sexual penetration of any kind whatsoever, or any oral-genital act committed … by violence, coercion, threat or surprise.” The need to seek each party’s consent is not explicitly mentioned.

The debate over changing France’s legal definition of rape, which feminist organizations have long advocated for, is resurfacing as the country has been gripped by the trial of Dominique Pélicot, a 71-year-old man accused of drugging his wife, Gisèle, and inviting men whom he recruited online to rape her over several years.

Although Dominique Pélicot has admitted his guilt, many of the 50 other men on trial alongside him are professing their innocence, claiming they believed they were participating in some sort of role-playing scenario with the couple.

Gisèle Pélicot has become a feminist icon in France after waiving her right to anonymity and requesting the trial be publicized to effect change. She has said that she hopes her case will help bring about a shift in attitudes toward sexual assault — specifically that shame should fall on the abusers, not the victims.

The push for consent-based legislation on rape had already gained significant support in France before the Pélicot trial. According to a November 2023 Ifop poll, 89 percent of respondents were in favor of updating the legal definition of rape. But authorities have been slow to act.

Last year, France opposed an effort to make non-consensual sex a criminal offense across the bloc. But President Emmanuel Macron later said that while he opposed legislating at a European level on the issue, he did favor new legislation in France.

Other European countries, including Spain and Belgium, have passed “only yes means yes” sexual consent laws in recent years.

The issue could soon come to parliament. Sarah Legrain, a lawmaker for the hard-left France Unbowed movement, has submitted a legislative proposal to add consent to the definition of rape in France.