France Debates: Are Children Prepared To Give Consent?

"On April 24, 2017, a 28-year-old-man met an 11-year-old girl in a park in Montmagny, just north of Paris, after which, he took her home where he had oral and vaginal sex with her."

A shocking start for a story on a very controversial issue: the age of consent in France.

When the girl and her family denounced the man in front of the French court, the defense lawyers argued that it was a "sexual infraction", and not "rape", since there had been no violence or coercion.

“She was 11 years and 10 months old, so nearly 12 years old,” they said.

No coercion? Really?

As if an 11-year-old girl—or any child—were able to fully understand what was happening and give consent.

In France, rape of a child leads to a 20-year prison sentence when the victim is 15 or younger. A "sexual infraction", no matter the age, is punishable with five years in jail and a €75,000 fine.

Although the judged ultimately ordered that rape charges be filed, what is most important is the debate that the case has generated.

In France, unlike in many other European countries, there is no presumption of coercion if a sexual minor is involved.

"Fixing a specific age of consent means that children and adolescents below that age cannot, regardless of circumstances, be considered consenting to sex; their very age renders them incapable. As a result, an adult in most European nations who has sex with someone under this age would be charged with rape, even if violent force is not used."

Did the protests of May 1968 bring with them pro-pedophilia attitudes in France? Are French intellectuals from the 70s and 80s, who defended a 'pedophile movement', to blame for the current laws?

In 1977, prominent intellectuals like Jean-Paul Sartre or Simone de Beauvoir signed a petition in defense of three men accused of having sex with minors. There were more.

An interesting piece on the history behind France's current laws on sexual violence and the discussions around the failure to establish a clear age of consent.