Paris - France announced a series of
measures against sexual violence on Wednesday, including
on-the-spot fines for sexual harassment on the street and
extended deadlines for filing rape complaints.
President Emmanuel Macron has said the bill is meant to
ensure "women are not afraid to be outside", after a wave of
sexual assault allegations levelled against men in the public
eye around the world triggered a protest movement online.
Under the legislation, which still needs to be approved by
parliament, under-age victims of rape will have until they are
aged 48 to file a complaint, taking the deadline to 30 years
after they turn 18, from 20 now.
The law will also set an age - 15 - under which one will be
presumed not to have agreed to having sex with someone aged 18
or more. This age of consent will facilitate rape prosecutions,
Gender Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa said.
Together with the age of consent, one of the most
eye-catching aspects of the bill, whose main points have been
publicly debated over the past few months, has been the plan to
punish sexual harassment on the street with fines.
Schiappa said the fines, to be paid on the spot by
offenders, would range from 90 euros to 750 euros (about $1 320 to
R11 000). They could reach 1,500 euros in the case of aggravating
circumstances and 3,000 euros for repeat offenders.
"It is crucial that the laws of the republic make it clear
that it is not allowed to harass or intimidate women ... whether
in the public space, on public transport or online," Schiappa
told a news conference. "There can be no lawless zones."
The law has wide popular backing, an Ifop opinion poll
showed.
Ninety-two percent of those surveyed agreed with extending
the statute of limitations, 90 percent backed punishing
harassment on the streets and 69 percent supported setting at 15
the age for sexual consent, the poll carried out on March 1 and
2 for viehealthy.com website showed.
However, critics, including actress Catherine Deneuve, have
either questioned how the law could be applied or mocked it as
an end to French romance.
Responding to such criticism, Schiappa told Reuters last
year: "There is some reluctance, some say we will kill the
culture of the 'French lover' if we punish street harassment."
"But it's the opposite. We want to preserve seduction,
chivalry and 'l'amour à la francaise' by saying what is key is
consent. Between consenting adults everything is allowed, we can
seduce, talk, but if someone says 'no', it's 'no' and it's
final," she said.
Schiappa has said street harassment would cover situations
such as asking a woman for her phone number a dozen times when
she has made clear she is not interested.
The bill will also introduce tougher sanctions for group
harassment online by making clear that every single person that
is taking part will have to answer for it, even if they just
sent a few tweets, Schiappa said.