EU agrees first law on violence against women, fails to find consensus on rape

European Union member states and lawmakers have reached an agreement on the bloc's first laws to tackle violence against women. However, they failed to agree on a definition of rape.

Women attend a gathering to protest femicides and violence against women at Saint-Michel fountain in central Paris to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 25 November 2020. REUTERS - GONZALO FUENTES

The new law seeks to protect women in the 27-nation EU bloc from gender-based violence, forced marriages, female genital mutilation and online harassment.

"It's a clear message across the union that we take violence against women seriously," Irish MEP Frances Fitzgerald told reporters at the European parliament in Strasbourg, two years after the European Commission – the EU's executive arm – first proposed the legislation.

"For the first time ever, we criminalise widespread forms of cyber violence, such as non-consensual sharing of intimate images," Vera Jourova, European Commission vice president for values and transparency, said on social media.

New #ViolenceAgainstWomen directive in 1,5 minute 📽️👇

It will bring:

1⃣ criminalisation of #cyberviolence
2⃣ protection
3⃣ support
4⃣ access to #justice pic.twitter.com/ytx3cCSLLM

— Věra Jourová (@VeraJourova) February 6, 2024

The text criminalises cyber stalking, cyber harassment and cyber incitement to hatred or violence across the European Union.

It does not, however, include a common definition of rape, which proved to be the most controversial point in negotiations.

"We could not get consent-based definition of rape into this directive. So that is a very big disappointment," Fitzgerald said.

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Definition disputed

France was one of a dozen countries - along with Germany and Hungary - that opposed including a definition of rape, arguing the EU had no competence in the matter.

The argued that rape does not have the cross-border dimension necessary for it to be considered a crime that comes with common penalties in the bloc.

The parliament and the commission strongly disputed that position, insisting that rape could fall within the framework of "sexual exploitation of women", for which there is already a joint set of penalties. 

France's position has controversy, as President Emmanuel Macron has promised to tackle violence against women during his second mandate.

He had elicited criticism after defending the presumption of innocence for French actor Gérard Dépardieu, who has been charged with rape and sexual harassment.

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Although the text does not contain a definition of rape, member states will aim to raise awareness that non-consensual sex is considered a criminal offence, the parliament said in a statement.

The commission will have to report every five years on whether the rules need to be updated, it added.