France: Stop Child Sexual Assault Now

I have received this petition from the Care 2 Petitions Team.
I am absolutely horrified and disgusted that this can be going on in France. Please sign this petition to bring to the attention of the French government our disgust that situation is being allowed to continue.
Were any of you aware that this was state of affairs being allowed to continue?

Jane, 

France has no legal age of consent. What does this mean? There are no legal protections for children who are raped or groped, except in cases where they can prove violent threats or coercion. As a result, courts in France have found multiple paedophilic predators “innocent”.
Most western countries recognize that children do not understand and cannot consent to sexual activity. It’s time for France to wake up and join their ranks.
Age of consent laws are statutes that protect children from adults who abuse their position of power in order to manipulate children into sexual acts and even relationships. This should be a no-brainer: every country should have these laws on the books, and France is no exception.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, in which many people have shared their stories of abuse and survival, we must not forget that millions of children have been subjected to sexual trauma, too. Studies suggest that approximately eight per cent of boys and twenty per cent of girls globally experience sexual abuse prior to the age of 18. Their stories deserve to be heard, too, and they need the laws of justice to be on their side.
Tell the French government: pass an age of consent law, now!
Thank you for all that you do,

Miranda B.

The Care2 Petitions Team

age of consent is 15 in france.

anything under that it is considered rape and sexial molestation, child abuse whatever.

"The age of consent in France is 15, as specified by Article 227-25 of the Penal Code, which reads: “The fact of the commission without violence, constraint, threat or surprise of a sexual offence by an adult on the person of a minor under fifteen years of age is punished by five years’ imprisonment and a fine of €75,000.”[31]

Article 227-22 prohibits the “organisation by an adult of meetings involving indecent exposure or sexual relations knowing that minors are present or participating”. (Minors refers to under 18s; the text of the article can be subject to interpretation).[32]

Article 227-22-1 prohibits the “soliciting of a minor under the age of fifteen, or a person pretending to be such minor, for sexual purposes through the use of a computer system”.[33]

Article 227-27 prohibits sexual relations with minors over age 15 (aged 15, 16 or 17) “1° where they are committed by an ascendant or by any other person having a legal or factual authority over the victim; 2° where they are committed by a person abusing the authority conferred by his functions.”[34]"

While i find the fine and the 5 year term a joke there is still clearly an age of consent.

This is not actually the case Harry. There have been several cases recently where the courts found that children as young as 13 have “consented” to sex because there was no violence involved. It is a scandal that a civilized first world country like France has such outdated laws in this area.

My mistake. The children were 11 years old!!!

Here is a link explaining what happened:

this is 2 case and its very difficult to judge when you look at how many child rapists are jailed each year. horrified they both got away with it but also the details of the cases are very limited.

one stated she lied about her age and the other there is not much to go on but he was charges with sexual assault still.

Its sad that these 2 cases fell though but it looks like these 2 cases are making changes happen already.

Some laws were changed awhile back and we all know france is very outdated in many things.

Luckily like in most countries this law and animal abuse laws are changing for the better.

I’m staggered that you can say that “the details of these cases are very limited”. The only details you need to know are that adult men had sex with 11 year old girls. Under what circumstances is that OK?

There can not possibly be any “details” that can excuse what these men did and they should be serving very long prison sentences.

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11 is too young to consent to a sexual act. 13 is too young. 15 or 16 is probably too young for many even though that is where a lot of legislatures draw the line.

France needs to rethink this one IMO.

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i do not agree with them getting off at all. Maybe you should read all what i have written.

at least they did not get off altogether. I believe punishment for any kind or rape, molestation or anything of the sort should be life long imprisonment and chemical castration, after all the victims will be living with it for the rest of their lives, why not the evil scum that does it.

Maybe the dna evidence that would show one was the father was inconclusive maybe the other person had mental health issues as having worked in mental health forensics with these people their mind set is often jaded and clouded many of who are jsut not right in the head. As I sauis we dont know how strong the evidence was against these people nor any other information.

I agree with @anon88169868 over the age though and think even after 15 people can be so scared they just dont fight. The way the law is written now says if your 25 and dont fight its not rape and if the person does not physically threaten a person does not mean they are not frightened if a person says no or is too young to really understand it should be considered rape no if no buts no maybe’s

Even in the UK rape often goes unreported or thrown out because there was not enough evidence to say a woman or man said no.

These laws need changing across the globe and countries that say age of consent is under 16 need to change that too.

I am not very good with words and often miss things out that im thinking but one thing is clear i do not agree with people who commit these offences getting off.

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Sadly it appears that France has pulled back from defining a legal age of consent. They have tightened the law up a bit but it remains the case that it is not automatically rape to have sex with a child under 15 - coercion has to be proved.

Yes, this is shameful in a first World country. Children just don’t have the capacity to give consent to sex. How this can be in doubt is beyond me.

I don’t know if this topic is discussed elsewhere, but the Senat has now ratified that 14 year old girls can consent to intercourse. I find this extraordinary. One woman from Toulouse got 89,000 “signatures” of disapproval in 24 hours.

I find this beyond belief. Consenting to intercourse at 14 with the probability of becoming pregnant and either giving birth or having an abortion is utterly not in the interests of either any child or any possible baby.
It is as appalling for a so called civilised society to entertain this as it is for other so called civilised societies to totally prevent abortion for any reason whatsoever.
I would like to know which party proposed this and just what the ratio of male to female voting was that carried this.
It is totally shameful.

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I agree with Jane on this one - too low, even had there been a clause about relative ages.

En France , l’ âge ne suffit pas à caractériser le viol

La majorité sexuelle de 15 ans ne détermine pas un âge légal de non-consentement, mais un âge en dessous duquel tout acte sexuel d’un majeur sur un mineur de moins 15 ans (ou plus de 15 ans si par ascendant ou personne ayant autorité) est illicite.

This is from the JDD

Anyone over 18 having sex, or doing anything sexual, with someone under 15 is committing a crime. Anyone in authority over someone having sex, or doing anything sexual, with that person even if they are over 15 (even over 18) is committing a crime.
The law needs to be clearer but it isn’t quite as bad as you seem to think.

Glad to hear that.

Clearer or just plain different? It still seems to leave quite a lot of scope for young girls to “consent” to intercourse with older males.

Even if consent is pleaded as a defence, if they are under 15 it is a crime. If they are over 15 and the person has any authority over them it is a crime. If they are over 15, the other person has no sway over them and there is no coercion then it isn’t a crime. If there is a big age gap we are suspicious.

I still think fifteen is too young and could very well lead to manipulation of young vulnerable girls.

@Jane_Williamson
There probably is some but possibly less than in certain other countries where the age is a year higher. Certainly the teenage pregnancy rate is lower here. It is 15 because that was the age the catholic church said girls could marry, boys had to be 18. Now everyone has to be 18. I don’t necessarily think the age should be changed, just for practical reasons, BUT I do think there should be significantly more prosecution and protection.

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This is the problem with laws affecting women.
In the UK there is a huge problem with the number of rape case convictions dropping like flies. The CPS is only taking on cases where there is an almost 100% guarantee of conviction and leaving women left feeling totally unprotected by the law.
In Ireland there is a lot of hand wringing over the Mother and Baby Homes where young girls and women were just about enslaved and treated as sinners of the worst degree by the Nuns which ran these places.
I heard a speech yesterday, by a man, who was saying that this was the fault of the whole of society and not once did I hear mention that it was the Roman Catholic Church which was behind all of this appalling treatment.
As far as I am concerned any law that was initiated by the Roman Catholic Church concerning women should be totally re-examined with women being listened to and contributing to and not being dismissed out of hand.
You only have to look at what is happening in Poland to see what happens where men and the Roman Catholic Church have a majority say.
Also in the USA where Evangelicals led by men are doing the same thing.

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