French children – easy prey for pedophiles

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. The French government set out to toughen the laws regarding sexual abuse on children, only to back-track at the last minute, leaving children to fend for themselves in a confusing legal Hell and prove they were victims of pedophile aggression. Proving they were raped that's even harder and the new bill passed last week doesn't help much.

The self-professed good intentions of the French government came after the national outcry last year, when in two separate cases the courts decided that two 11 years old girls consented to sexual relationships with men well in their 20s. The girls did not actively try to defend themselves, hence they were willing participants in the sex acts, the judges decided.
The French were naturally horrified by such insane decisions and demanded a revision of the sexual abuse laws making it crystal clear children under 15 cannot consent to sexual relationships with an adult, so the perpetrator is to be tried for rape. Pure and simple. In the wake of the scandals, the government promised the age of consent will be enshrined in the new law, but then recanted, coming up with a text that numerous politicians, law-practitioners and children defense organizations say it's a disgrace.
Brainchild of Minister for equality between men and women, Marlene Schiappa, the new text does not send out the desired message – 'don't touch a child – at all'. Penalties for sexual acts with underage children were indeed doubled, going from 5 to ten years jail time. However, protesters feel the new law will allow rapists and pedophiles to take advantage and escape the most serious charge of rape, which carries a penalty of 20 years in jail.
Even judges will prefer handing out a 10 years term for 'sexual acts with a minor', instead of bothering themselves with proving it was rape. While rape is a crime, sexual acts with a minor is a
misdemeanor which is not tried in criminal court, but in a correctional court.

According to lawyer Arash Derambarsh, representing the 'Innocence in Danger' organization:

'Penalties were toughened, but it's still a big bluff. Article 2 still conveys the idea that in certain cases the child did consent to sexual relationships'.

For a pedophile to be charged with rape it will still be necessary to prove the acts were committed under some form of coercion. Critics of the law pointed out that pedophiles rarely go for outright aggression, preferring to groom their victims and establish a relation of trust.
A few days ago, a group of 250 French personalities wrote an open letter to protest the new law, while over 120.000 signed a petition against the bill which, they say, makes rape a misdemeanor and not a crime.
Not surprising, the French government insists the law is good and those that say that children are not protected enough are victims of 'fake news' circulating on the Internet.

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