France records more sexual violence cases after Weinstein scandal

France has continued to experience widespread sexual violence following the celebrated widespread Wienstein scandal.
Agency reports revealed that country’s police has recorded 30 per cent increase in year-on-year figures for October in wake of series of high-profile allegations against famous figures

Reports of rape, sexual assault and harassment have leapt by almost a third in France following the international scandal surrounding the allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Police in London, Los Angeles and New York have launched investigations into the alleged behaviour by Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by more than 90 women. Weinstein “unequivocally denies” all claims of non-consensual sex, a spokesperson said.

Last week, Richard Lizurey, the director general of the gendarmerie national, wrote to officers and prefects, calling for a “general mobilisation” to prevent violence against women and to support victims.
The rise, described as “exceptional” is believed to have been prompted by victims feeling empowered to come forward after the #MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc (squeal on the pig) campaigns on social media.

The sharp increase in reports in October, up from 1,213 in the same period last year to 1,577 (30%), was revealed by an official source to Agence France-Presse.
Asked about the increase, France’s justice minister said the country’s legal system was equipped to deal with the extra workload but said she was examining the possibility of letting victims register reports of attacks online.

“The victim is at home; she might be able to lodge a “pre-complaint” online without going to the police station … that will then be followed up,” Nicole Belloubet told French radio.
The report came as the French parliament prepares urgent legislation to set a legal age below which a child cannot be considered to have consented to sex, which a minister has suggested could be as young as 13 years.

Demand for a new law, expected to be presented to the Assemblée nationale early next year, has been sparked by two shocking recent cases in which adult males have been cleared of raping pre-adolescent girls.
Last week, a man was acquitted of rape after a court found no evidence he had forced an 11-year-old girl to have sex. The man, aged 22 at the time, accused the girl, who later became pregnant, of saying she was 14, nearly 15. The age of consent in France is 15.

In a similar case in September a 28-year-old man charged with a lesser offence of sexual assault after investigators said they could not make a rape charge stick because his 11-year-old victim had reportedly not resisted, and as such she was presumed to have consented to sex.
Under French law, for the rape of a child to be considered a crime it has to be proven there was “constraint threats, violence or surprise”.

Victims’ organisations point out a child should not be presumed to have consented in any situation and is often panic stricken, terrified and unable to react. The family of one of the 11-year-old girls said she had been “paralysed” by fear and “unable to defend herself”, which is why she had not fought back.

PIX: A women holds a placards reading ‘We will not be silent any more’ during a gathering in Paris against gender-based and sexual violence. Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images