the Choisir la cause des femmes association hopes that it will not be “just an announcement effect”

“We hope that it will be more than an announcement effect”, reacted Wednesday March 13 on franceinfo Maria Cornaz Bassoli, the national secretary of the association Choosing the cause of women. On March 8, during the ceremony of sealing the “guaranteed freedom” to resort to abortion in the Constitution and on the sidelines of Women’s Rights Day, Emmanuel Macron informed the feminist association of his intention to include in French law the notion of consent in matters of rape. The head of the association remains cautious since the President of the Republic has not communicated any precise timetable.

“It’s an announcement that may have surprised us greatly,” recognizes Maria Cornaz Bassoli, “especially after Emmanuel Macron’s firm opposition to a common definition of rape at European level”. At the end of 2023, France opposed a common definition of rape on a European scale. “Emmanuel Macron did not want rape to fall under the jurisdiction of the European Union”, explains the president of the feminist association who regrets contradictory arguments. The European Commission and the European Parliament were both in favor of this common definition of rape, centered on the notion of consent, underlines Maria Cornaz Bassoli. Several members of the 27 have already taken this step, such as Spain, Belgium and Sweden.

In French law, rape is currently characterized by an act of penetration committed by “there violence, coercion, threat or surprise”. “We do not want to replace the criteria currently present in French law”recalls the national secretary of the association Choosing the cause of women “but broaden the definition of rape”. Maria Cornaz Bassoli recalls that today “in situations where the victim is in a state of astonishment, it happens that we cannot characterize rape”.