The European Parliament on Tuesday called on the EU to draw up a standardised definition of rape across the 27-nation bloc that explicitly includes the need for consent.
STRASBOURG: The European Parliament on Tuesday called on the EU to draw up a standardised definition of rape across the 27-nation bloc that explicitly includes the need for consent.
The vote, supported by a majority of MEPs, was met with loud applause in the chamber in Strasbourg.
Two years ago, the EU adopted its first piece of bloc-wide legislation aimed at combating violence against women.
That law criminalises female genital mutilation, forced marriage, the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and cyberbullying.
However, despite lengthy negotiations, the EU failed to include the issue of rape, due to a lack of consensus on its legal definition.
It is on this issue that MEPs are now pressing, calling on the EU’s executive, the European Commission, to propose a unified definition, based on the absence of free, informed consent.
The European Commission said it “welcomes” the lawmakers’ move without mentioning if the executive would take up their call.
The text voted on Tuesday makes a direct reference to Gisele Pelicot, the French woman who has become a global figure in the fight against sexual violence after a high-profile trial in France.
Pelicot’s now ex-husband Dominique was convicted in 2024 of drugging her and letting scores of men rape her while unconscious.
Lawmakers said her case, in which the lack of consent played a central role, highlights “the inadequacy of definitions of rape that are based on force and not centred on consent”.
