11 Feb 2021
PARIS (AP) – France’s government wants to set the age of sexual consent at 15 and make it easier to punish long-ago child sexual abuse, amid growing public pressure and a wave of online testimonies about rape and other sexual violence by parents and authority figures.
Child protection activists and victims celebrated the announcement, but say France needs to do more as a society to stop this abuse.
France’s lack of an age of consent – along with statutes of limitations – have complicated efforts to prosecute alleged perpetrators, including recent cases involving a prominent modeling agent, a predatory priest, a surgeon and a group of firefighters accused of systematic abuse.
New push to enshrine children's protections comes amid huge public pressure after a wave of revelations about violence by parents and authority figures.
PARIS - France’s government wants to set the age of sexual consent at 15 and make it easier to punish long-ago child sexual abuse, amid growing public p.