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.

Schiappa said the fines, to be paid on the spot by offenders, would range from 90 euros to 750 euros ($110 to $920). They could reach 1,500 euros in the case of aggravating circumstances and 3,000 euros for repeat offenders.

However, critics, including actress Catherine Deneuve, have either questioned how the law could be applied or mocked it as an end to French romance.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2018