French Gender Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa has presented a bill to combat sexual violence and harassment. The legislation includes groundbreaking changes to laws regarding the age of consent and street harassment.
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France presented a bill against sexual harassment and abuse on Wednesday, with measures including a law that states people under 15 years of age cannot consent to sex and fines for sexual street harassment.
The legislation, which still needs to be approved by the parliament, will also extend the age limit for reporting underage rape and redefine sexual and moral harassment to better cover online offenses.
President Emmanuel Macron has said the bill is meant to ensure "women are not afraid to be outside," following a flood of sexual assault allegations brought to light through the #MeToo movement.
Sexual acts with someone below the age of 15 are illegal under French law. However, as the law now stands, in order to charge an offender with rape, it must be proven that the sexual encounter was forced.
The introduction of the new bill was heavily influenced by two landmark cases that shocked France, involving adult men who allegedly had sex with 11-year-old girls.
The new legislation will see the prison sentence for rape involving penetration increased to 10 years, compared to the current five, French newspaper Le Monde reported.
"The idea is that it is high enough to be a deterrent but also that we could be sure the harasser can pay it immediately, so that the law can be efficient," the gender equality minister said in a Facebook Live session.
Schiappa has said street harassment included situations such as repeatedly asking a woman for her phone number when she has made it clear she is not interested.
Time's 2017 Person of the Year: The Silence Breakers
Giving power to the #MeToo movement, the people who came forward with their stories of sexual harassment have been named Time's 2017 Person of the Year. Here are some of the most high-profile "Silence Breakers."
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Ashley Judd
In 1997, upcomer Ashley Judd was invited to meet star-maker Harvey Weinstein at an LA hotel, whereupon he tried to coerce her into bed. Judd escaped but refused to be silenced. Many in Hollywood then said the producer's sexual misconduct was an "open secret." "There wasn't a place for us to report these experiences," said Judd, the first to call out Weinstein in the New York Times in October.
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Rose McGowan
When actor Rose McGowan first told people that Harvey Weinstein had raped her, she says some in Hollywood threatened to end her career. "They threatened [me] with being blacklisted. I was blacklisted after I was raped, because I got raped, because I said something," she said in a January interview first published in the Observer. But that didn't stop her from later speaking out.
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Taylor Swift
When Taylor Swift alleged that Denver radio DJ David Mueller reached under her skirt and groped her, he took her to court after it lead to his firing. "I'm not going to let you or your client make me feel in any way that this is my fault," she told his lawyer. Swift also told Time magazine that if Mueller was "brazen enough to assault me... imagine what he might do to a vulnerable, young artist."
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Selma Blair
Blair claims that writer/director James Toback invited her to his room and asked her to remove her clothing while she read a script before asking her for sex. When she refused, he blocked her way and masturbated against her leg. He then threatened to kill her if she dared to talk. "I didn't want to speak up because, it sounds crazy but, even until now, I have been scared for my life," said Blair.
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Alyssa Milano
"Me Too" was first used in 2006 by gender equality activist Tarana Burke as a rallying cry for young sexual harassment and assault survivors. Actor Alyssa Milano was sent a screenshot of the phrase in October and later tweeted: "If you've been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet." She woke to find that over 30,000 people had used #MeToo and burst into tears.
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Wendy Walsh
After Bill O'Reilly and Fox News spent millions on lawyers to settle, and silence, sexual harassment claims, Wendy Walsh, a psychologist and Fox contributor spoke out about O'Reilly after initial reluctance for fear of retaliation. "I felt it was my duty," Walsh told Time, "as a mother of daughters, as an act of love for women everywhere and the women who are silenced, to be brave."
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Megyn Kelly
TV news anchor Megyn Kelly has accused Fox host Bill O'Reilly of sexual harassment. "What if we did complain?" she said to Time, "if we spoke our truth in our strongest voices? What if that worked to change reality right now?" Perhaps that change has already started to come. "I always thought maybe things could change for my daughter," said Kelly. "I never thought things could change for me."
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Susan Fowler
An Uber engineer, Fowler felt powerless with "a harasser in the White House" and decided to out sexual harassers at Uber in a blog post. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was subsequently forced to resign and 20-odd employees were fired. "There's something really empowering about standing up for what's right," said Fowler, who has been described as a whistle-blower — which she calls "a badge of honor."
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Terry Crews
The actor and former American football star is one of a number of men who have said "me too." Crews has taken out a sexual assault lawsuit against talent agent Adam Venit, who he accuses of groping him at a party in Hollywood in February 2016. Also among Time's Silence Breakers is actor Blaise Godbe Lipman, who's accused talent agent Tyler Grasham of sexually assaulting him when he was a teenager.
Underage rape victims will have until the age of 48 to file a rape complaint, an increase of 10 years from the current deadline of 38.
The push to extend the age deadline gained momentum after French television and radio presenter Flavie Flament accused controversial British photographer David Hamilton of raping her when she was 13 years old.
The bill states that sexual and moral harassment offenses are defined "where such words or conduct are imposed on the same victim in a concerted manner," Le Monde reported.
This definition has been used in an attempt to crackdown on coordinated attacks conducted online, whose authors are currently able to avoid prosecution because they have not acted repeatedly.
"We want to put an end to this group cyber-harassment by making clear that every single person that is taking part will have to answer for it, even if they just sent a few tweets," Schiappa said on Tuesday.
Under the new laws, sexual harassment and moral harassment will be punishable by three and two years' jail time respectively, according to Le Monde.
