is there a sexual majority?

The sexual majority would be at 15 years can we often see. However, on sexual relations and the notion of consent for minors, the law is more complicated than that.

The Matzneff and Duhamel cases brought back to the fore the legal issues in France related to sexual relations between adults and minors. Is there a sexual majority in French law?

First, how is it in other countries? In Europe, laws vary on the age of sexual majority from 14 for countries like Liechtenstein or Portugal to 18 for Malta or Turkey. The 15-year threshold is enshrined in law in Monaco, but at 16 in Belgium or Canada. Below these ages, the law considers that the minor cannot consent to a sexual act.
In France, the law does not currently mention the term sexual majority. What is she really saying?

Sexual majority at 15? Not exactly

For the moment, a popular belief persists that the sexual majority would be reached by 15 years according to the law. However, nothing is written on this subject in the so-called Schiappa law on sexual violence, established in 2018.
Against this, the National Assembly voted unanimously on the night of March 15 to 16, 2021, a text strengthening the protection of minors against sexual violence, which should be implemented in spring 2021. This law would set a threshold of age below which the child is considered to automatically not consent to a relationship with an adult. This consent threshold is set at 15 years, 18 in the case of incest. A clause, known as Romeo and Juliet, however, wants to avoid criminalizing love affairs between young people who are less than 5 years apart. Minors among themselves (up to 18 years) can do whatever they want as long as there is no "violence, constraint, surprise or threat". Why is a set of associations like the Collectif Pour l'Enfance, however, concerned about the new law on the age of consent passed on March 16, 2021?

Before the implementation of this law in spring 2021, the age of 15 has been listed since 1945 in article 227.25 of the Penal Code, which defines the regime of sexual assault: "It is strictly forbidden for adults to commit any sexual act on a child under 15, regardless of the behavior of the child. We can therefore speak of" sexual majority "at 15 years although the expression does not appear. not as such in the law.However, this prohibition is materialized by an offense (227-25) punishable by a maximum of 7 years in prison, i.e. significantly less than aggravated rape on minors under 15 years old (punishable crime up to 20 years in prison). " explains Patrick Loiseleur, vice-president of the child protection association "Face à l'Inceste". After 15 years, if he or she agrees, a teenager can have sex with an adult, unless the latter exercises de jure or de facto authority over him or her, or if he is one of them. his ancestors

A clear and indisputable age of consent is necessary

Before 2021, in the Schiappa law, the absence of an age threshold for consent made it possible to use in trials a qualification assuming that the minor had consented to the sexual relationship. This is a characteristic feature of many past cases: the perpetrator has no problem admitting the sexual act on a minor and then explains that he does not see the problem, since the law assumes that the child could have consented. This was the case in high-profile cases, such as that of little Sarah, in Pontoise. Raped at the age of 11 by a man in his thirties, the rape complaint was reclassified as sexual assault, which downplays the seriousness of the facts.

A bill by Senator Annick Billon was unanimously adopted in the Senate on January 21, 2021 to create a new specific offense that punishes with twenty years of criminal imprisonment any sexual penetration between an adult and a child under 13 years old. , provided that the perpetrator knows the age of the victim. A condition deemed insufficient by associations for the defense of children's rights, as well as by Secretary of State Adrien Taquet. The deputies then voted on this text after modifications unanimously on March 16, 2021, thereby establishing a consent threshold at 15 years. However, there are still difficulties for the associations. Thus, this clause called "Romeo and Juliet" which is debated.

The association "Facing incest" is indignant that with this clause, "This complicates things a lot because we keep the offense of sexual assault only for cases where there is less than 5 years of age difference" , which endangers 13-14 year olds. The regime of sexual assault is weakened. In addition, Patrick Loiseleur explains that "Laetitia Avia has passed an amendment which weakens sexual assault by adding a condition of" pressure ". This amendment 270, which has gone largely unnoticed, is a real regression". Indeed, 13-year-olds remain vulnerable to 18-year-olds, who can pressure to obtain false consent.

Finally, the definition of incest is denounced by Face à L’Inceste as deconstructed, reduced to those "in authority". However, the association highlights on Twitter the possible flaws: "In cases of incest in practice" the authority of law or of fact "will serve to re-establish a notion of" coercion "or" non-consent " which does not say its name. Incestuous brothers and uncles will have a great time arguing that they were not in a position of authority! "

The only real advance according to the association: a sub-amendment removed the condition of 5 years of age difference in the specific case of prostitution: "If the law is passed as it is, someone who uses a prostitute aged 14 or younger effectively faces 20 years in prison, up from 7 previously. This is real progress. " concedes Patrick Loiseleur.

What the associations united in the Collectif pour l'Enfance want is for the 15-year threshold to be clear and indisputable. This is the case of Face à l'Inceste, which calls for new amendments, as well as better prevention upstream of this violence, so that questions of sexual majority and children's consent no longer have to be asked. . "In general, we believe that the law should set a clear, simple and understandable prohibition, and that the care of managing exceptional situations such as young lovers who flirt with legal limits without causing them harm could very well be left to the judges. Using the exception as a pretext to unravel the rule is twisted. " concludes Patrick Loiseleur, vice-president of Face à l'Inceste.