On Tuesday 28 April, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to propose “as soon as possible” legislation establishing an EU-wide definition of rape that is “based on the requirement of freely given, informed consent that can be withdrawn” (see EUROPE 13816/22). 17.2% of women in the EU are said to have been victims of sexual violence.
In the resolution they adopted (447 votes in favour - EPP, Renew Europe, S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left -, 160 against - ECR, ESN, PfE - and 43 abstentions), MEPs called on Member States that still rely on a definition of rape based on coercion or violence to bring their legislation into line with international standards, in particular the Istanbul Convention.
The European Parliament also calls on them to ensure that professionals likely to come into contact with rape victims receive “compulsory, regular, appropriate, effective and adequate” training. The MEPs have thus strengthened the parliamentary committee’s text, which did not make such training compulsory.
By a margin of 9 votes (312 in favour - S&D, Greens/EFA, Renew Europe, The Left -, 321 against - EPP, PfE, ECR, ESN - and 18 abstentions), the European Parliament did not wish to include in its resolution the fact that “widespread impunity for rape contributes to rape culture” or to call on Member States to include in school curricula comprehensive, compulsory, gender-sensitive and age-appropriate sex and relationships education.
The PfE and ESN groups presented alternative resolutions, which were rejected (180 votes in favour, 455 against and 18 abstentions for the PfE resolution, 179 votes in favour, 457 against and 17 abstentions for the ESN resolution). The PfE resolution described rape culture as a “woke concept”, while the ESN resolution equated migrants with sex offenders.
On Monday, during the debate, European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib promised that the Commission would support national reforms aimed at defining rape on the basis of the notion of consent. “We will also carry out an exhaustive inventory of the legislation in force in the EU in order to identify the additional measures, including legislation, that need to be taken to ensure that sexual intercourse without consent is defined as rape throughout the EU”, she added.
See the resolution adopted: https://aeur.eu/f/lql (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)