An expected victory for the recognition of sexual violence. On October 29, 2025, France definitively included in its Penal Code that non-consent in the definition of rape or sexual assault. A major step forward voted by a large majority in the Senate (327 votes in favor, 15 abstentions), which finally places consent at the center of criminal law.
Now “no” never means “yes”
This reform, adopted a year after the Mazan rape trial (where the question of consent had shaken public opinion) clarifies what case law already admitted: silence, fear or astonishment never amount to agreement.
From now on, consent is defined as “informed, specific, prior and revocable”, and it cannot be inferred either from silence or the absence of resistance. In other words, just not saying “no” never means “yes.”
For Véronique Riotton, co-rapporteur of the text, this reform aims to “equip the criminal chain” and place responsibility back on the attacker: “We want the investigation to really focus on how the author ensured consent.”
“A sexual act is not defined by what we see, but by what is wanted”
For clinical psychologist Amélie Boukhobza, this reform is a fundamental step forward:
“Explicitly including the absence of consent in the law is a major step forward. Because it finally places the body and will of the victim at the center of the law.”
Until now, French law defined rape around four criteria: violence, coercion, threat or surprise. In other words, it was necessary to prove obvious aggression. However, as the psychologist reminds us, “in many situations, the victim was unable to resist, scream or say no. She was stunned, paralyzed, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”
“This astonishment or this alteration of consciousness, which we know well in the clinic, is not passivity: it is a survival reaction, an impossibility to act.”
By integrating non-consent, the law therefore recognizes this psychological and traumatic reality:
“A sexual act is not defined by what we see, but by what is wanted. Silence, fear or immobility never amount to consent. What we seek to avoid is precisely the confusion between silence and desire, between fear and ‘letting it happen’.”
A law that intends to change the way victims are viewed
For the victims, this development is above all a symbolic recognition. Amélie Boukhobza insists:
“It is a strong message sent to society. For women, it is the recognition of what they often experience in shame and confusion. What we hear every day in offices is the guilt of having ‘let it happen’, the fear of not being believed. What this reform changes is the way they are viewed. The problem is not having resisted badly, it is having been denied in one’s choice.”
In 2023 alone, 114,100 victims of sexual violence were recorded in France, for only 6,356 convictions. These figures reflect a chilling reality: that of a justice system still unadapted to the psychological mechanisms of trauma.
Limits and a fragile barrier not to be ignored
But for the psychologist, the text alone will not be enough.
“The major difficulty will remain proof of non-consent. How to prove what was not said? How to make the astonishment, control or fear recognized?”
She calls for global support: “This reform will have to be accompanied by real training work, understanding of psychotrauma and listening to victims.”
In itself, the law sets a framework. But it is in courtrooms, police stations, hospitals and schools that this framework will have to come to life. Because recognition of non-consent is only valid if women’s words are heard, believed and respected. Several senators also chose to abstain, among them the socialist Laurence Rossignol (Val-de-Marne), who expressed her reservations regarding the use of the term “consent”. According to her, this word still conveys “an archaic vision of sexuality, where women are seen as refusing or giving in.” On the
“It’s an important symbolic victory, yes. But it will only take on its full meaning if justice, society and the voice of women really take hold of it” concludes the psychologist.