PARIS: French senators are expected to back a bill defining rape as any non-consensual sexual act, making France the latest European country to pass a consent-based law on Wednesday.

The final vote comes after members of France’s lower house, the National Assembly, approved the bill Thursday by 155 votes to 31, paving the way for its adoption by the Senate.

The measure defines rape as any “non-consensual act”, enshrining the principle of consent into the definition of the crime.

The text signals a move “from a culture of rape to a culture of consent”, said centrist lawmaker Veronique Riotton after the bill she co-sponsored passed the lower house last week.

Consent, the text says, must be “free and informed, specific, prior and revocable”, and evaluated in light of the circumstances, noting that it cannot be inferred from “silence or lack of reaction”.

“There is no consent if the sexual act is committed through violence, coercion, threat or surprise, whatever their nature,” it states, incorporating wording already used in France’s current legal definition of rape.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2025