During a vote in the Sénat in January 2025. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
French lawmakers on Wednesday, October 29, adopted a bill defining rape as any non-consensual sexual act, making the country the latest European nation to pass a consent-based law. The penal code will now enshrine the principle of consent into the definition of the crime of rape, after France's Senate backed the measure in the final vote of a lengthy legislative process.
The text signals a move "from a culture of rape to a culture of consent," centrist lawmaker Véronique Riotton said after the bill, which she co-sponsored, passed the lower house last week.
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France's Assemblée Nationale backs bill adding consent to rape law
