(Paris) France plans to make 15 the age of sexual consent after a
public outcry over two cases of sex involving 11-year-old girls, Equality
Minister Marlene Schiappa speaking to the press said Monday.
After public consultations and the recommendation of a panel of experts, the government has decided to set the age at 15,”
The issue was brought to the fore after critics and
lawmakers said French laws had allowed two men to escape rape charges when they
were accused of sex with underage girls. In November, a 30-year-old man was
acquitted of the rape of an 11-year-old girl after the court determined she had
not been subjected to “constraint, threat, violence or surprise.
The other case was
where a 28-year-old man had faced charges of sexual relations with a minor,
rather than rape — a decision that enraged the 11 year old girl’s family. This sorry state of affairs would never have transpired if the law in France had a brain:
