Prosecutors in France claim that a sexual encounter involving a 11-year old girl and an adult man was entirely consensual, according to The Local.
The man approached the girl in a park in Montmagny, Paris, and took her back to his apartment. He had promised to “teach her how to kiss”, but later had sexual intercourse with her.
Family and legal representatives of the girl insist that the man should face rape charges. However, prosecutors only charged him with sexual abuse of a minor, stating that rape charges couldn’t be justified because “there was no violence, no constraint, no threat, and no surprise”.
The case has caused outrage, and French rights group Le Voix de l’Enfant said in a statement: “The question of consent or its absence should never even be asked when it comes to rape victims who are minors”.
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Currently, French law dictates that without the threat of violence during a sexual act, it cannot be deemed as rape. The law states that “committing a sexual offence against a minor under the age of 15 without violence, constraint, threat or surprise is punished by five years’ imprisonment and a fine of €75,000”.
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Image: Stephen Rathke
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