France to peg legal age of sexual consent at 15
News & Trends •
under the existing legislation if there is no violence or coercion proved1 france plans to fix the legal age of sexual consent as 15 so that an adult who has sex with someone younger than that will be charged with rape1 currently prosecutors must prove sex with someone under-15 was forced in order to bring rape charges1 the change came amid uproar over two recent cases of men accused of having sex with 11-year-old girls1 the government is to approve the new age limit as part of a package of other laws against sexual violence and harassment in the coming weeks1 it had been discussing whether to set the age as 13 or 15 which is what groups fighting violence against children had campaigned for1 equality minister marlne schiappa welcomed the move with advice from doctors and legal experts1 this has a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of 75000 66000 870001 but rape convictions carry much harsher punishments1 ms schiappa told afp news agency that she was very glad that the higher age was chosen. the limit is also supported by president emmanuel macron1 minister of solidarity and health agns buzyn saidand that everyone would see what was legal and illegal le figaro newspaper reports1 read more at httpwww.bbc.comnewsworld-europe-433003131