Islam in France: France Debates Dropping Minimum Legal Age for Sexual Consent to 13

Because of the escalation of rapes of children, the French government is considering lowering the age of “consent” to 13. One of the cases behind this horrific move is the rape of an 11-year-old girl by a 30 year-old Muslim migrant who was acquitted on November 7 by the Assize Court of Seine-et-Marne . The migrant had approached the girl while she was playing with her cousin in Champs-sur-Marne. The jurors of the assize court of Seine-et-Marne considered, after two days of hearing, that the constitutive elements of the rape, “the constraint, the threat, the violence and the surprise, were not established “said the prosecutor of Meaux, Dominique Laurens. The prosecutor general appealed the acquittal Friday, according to Le Parisien.

Translation: The facts occurred in August 2009, said Laure Habeneck, the lawyer of the girl, now 20 years old. She had visited a park with a man, 22 years old at the time, who had approached while playing with his cousin in Champs-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne).

They had sexual intercourse, according to the accused. The latter claims that the girl had lied about his age, telling him, according to his lawyer, Samir Mbarki, “she was 14 years old and was about to turn 15,” she contests. The girl’s family had learned of the facts in 2010, discovering her pregnancy. Her child, 7 years old today, had been placed in a foster home.

“My client is traumatized,” Laure Habeneck told the Parisian . “In his defense, the accused referred in particular to the ‘African heat’, and it is to be hoped that this justification is not at the origin of the jury’s intimate conviction. 22-year-old man and 11-year-old girl is normalized in our society, “says the lawyer.

Illustration photo. The man had approached the girl while she was playing with her cousin in Champs-sur-Marne.

The Assize Court of Seine-et-Marne considered that the elements constituting the rape were not established even if the report is proven. The facts go back to 2009, the man was 22 years old.

Eight years in prison had been required against him. A 30-year-old man tried for raping an 11-year-old girl in 2009 was acquitted on Tuesday. The Assize Court of Seine-et-Marne has indeed estimated that the rape was not characterized, indicate sources concordant this Saturday, confirming information of the Parisian .

The jurors of the assize court of Seine-et-Marne considered, after two days of hearing, that the constitutive elements of the rape, “the constraint, the threat, the violence and the surprise, were not established “said the prosecutor of Meaux, Dominique Laurens. The prosecutor general appealed the acquittal Friday, according to Le Parisien .

“My client is traumatized”

The facts occurred in August 2009, said Laure Habeneck, the lawyer of the girl, now 20 years old. She had visited a park with a man, 22 years old at the time, who had approached while playing with his cousin in Champs-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne).

They had sexual intercourse, according to the accused. The latter claims that the girl had lied about his age, telling him, according to his lawyer, Samir Mbarki, “she was 14 years old and was about to turn 15,” she contests. The girl’s family had learned of the facts in 2010, discovering her pregnancy. Her child, 7 years old today, had been placed in a foster home.

“My client is traumatized,” Laure Habeneck told the Parisian . “In his defense, the accused referred in particular to the ‘Africanheat’, and it is to be hoped that this justification is not at the origin of the jury’s intimate conviction. 22-year-old man and 11-year-old girl is normalized in our society, “says the lawyer.

A similar case in September

This decision comes as a similar case , revealed in September, caused controversy: the prosecution of Pontoise (Val-d’Oise) decided to prosecute for “sexual assault” and not for “rape” a 28-year-old man for having sex with an 11 year old child.

The investigators considered that this relationship was granted because no physical constraint was exerted on the minor, while the girl’s family filed a rape complaint, describing a child paralyzed, unable to defend herself.

C'est monstrueux

France Debates Dropping Minimum Legal Age for Sexual Consent to 13

In the midst of allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Hollywood executives and politicians, France is proposing a novel antidote to child sex abuse: make the children into consenting adults.

Currently, the legal age of sexual majority in France is 15, but a new bill put forward by the French government looks to set the minimum limit for sexual consent still lower. On Monday, the French Minister of Justice, Nicole Belloubet, said that the age of 13 years could be a reasonable limit.

Thirteen is a “conceivable limit” for the upcoming legislation, she stated, with the caveat that judges should be able to rule whether someone was old enough to give consent in particular situations.

“The question of the age below which the minor’s consent is presumed not to exist is crucial, because there are obviously extremely shocking and unacceptable situations,” Ms. Belloubet said.

Two recent court cases have revived the debate on the minimum age of consent in the case of sexual relations between an adult and a minor. On 7 November, the Assize Court of Seine-et-Marne acquitted a 30-year-old man on charges of raping an 11-year-old girl.

A similar decision was handed down in April in Val-d’Oise, where the charges were modified from “rape” to “sexual assault,” since according to French law rape requires “violence, coercion, threat or surprise,” and these had been absent. In both cases, judges held that there had been valid consent on the part of the younger party, despite their age.

In France, the law fixes the age of sexual majority at 15 years, and a minor over the age of 15 is able to legally engage in sexual relations even with an adult without the latter being prosecuted.

The current law says that an adult who performs a consensual sexual act with a person under the age of 15 can be prosecuted for sexual abuse but not for rape. Any sexual act committed between a minor under the age of 15 and an adult is defined by the Penal Code as a sexual offense, regardless of the circumstances.

The concepts of sexual majority and age of consent vary from country to country. A large number of national laws provide for a “sexual majority” between the ages of 15 and 18. In the United States, the age varies from 15 to 17 depending on the state.

Marlene Schiappa, a junior minister for gender equality, said Sunday that the cut-off could be between the ages of 13 and 15.

“Below a certain age, it is considered that there can be no debate on the sexual consent of a child, and that any child below a certain age would automatically be considered to be raped or sexually assaulted,” Ms. Schiappa said.