The French parliament has ratified an amendment to add consent to the legal definition of sexual assault and rape law.
Previously, rape or sexual abuse in France had been defined as any form of sexual penetration committed with the use of violence, coercion, threat or surprise.
Now, the law will say that all sexual acts done to another without consent constitute rape.
The change is the result of a cross-party, years-long debate which gained renewed urgency after last year's Pelicot rape trial, in which 50 men were found guilty of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she had been drugged unconscious by her husband Dominique.
The defence of many of the accused hinged on the fact they could not be guilty of rape because they were unaware Ms Pelicot was not in a position to give her consent.
Some defence lawyers in the Pelicot case had therefore argued that there could be no crime without the intention to commit it.
The new bill will make this argument more tenuous, as it states that consent must be free and informed, specific, prior and revocable.
The law now states that consent must be evaluated according to the circumstances, emphasizing that it cannot be inferred from silence or lack of reaction.
There is no consent if the sexual act is committed through violence, coercion, threat or surprise, whatever their nature, the law asserts.
The two MPs who drafted the amendment - the Greens' Marie-Charlotte Garin and centrist Véronique Riotton - celebrated a historic victory and hailed a major step forward in the fight against sexual violence.
However, critics of the amendment voiced concerns that it could complicate consensual relationships or unjustly shift the burden of proof onto victims.
France's highest administrative court backed the amendment, noting that it would clearly express... that sexual assaults infringe upon the fundamental principle of everyone's personal and sexual freedom.
After overcoming political delays, the Senate approved the bill with overwhelming support, and it received final endorsement from the National Assembly shortly thereafter.
Advocates assert that this reform aligns French laws with contemporary societal understandings of consent, placing France among other European countries with similar statutes, including Sweden, Germany, and Spain.
