The text requiring explicit consent for sexual acts has narrowly passed to the lower room in an electric atmosphere. Amnesty International praised “a huge success”.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
The notion of consent in sexual intercourse is the subject of harsh debates in Switzerland. In an electric atmosphere, the lower room of the Parliament widely widened on Monday, December 5, the very restrictive definition of rape in force in the country by just adopting the option “only yes means yes” – 99 votes for, 88 against and three absences.
According to current legislation, only a constrained vaginal penetration, accompanied by a certain degree of resistance of women, is considered to be rape. There is a consensus on the fact that the definition of rape should include any non -consented penetration, whatever the gender of the victim, and its degree of resistance. But it is the interpretation of this last point that arouses so much discussion.
Some defend an approach “No, it’s no”, according to which there would be rape if a person has explicitly opposed to penetration. The upper room of the Parliament, the Council of States, has already voted in this direction this year. But the vote Monday of the option “only yes means yes” of the national council – the lower chamber – offers a wider definition, requiring the explicit consent for sexual acts.
“The body of the ‘Another is never an open bar “
“It goes without saying that you do not take money in the wallet of your neighbor without asking him. It goes without saying that you do not enter someone without ringing. Why my Shalls and my house would be better protected than my body? “Asked the socialist deputy Tamara Funitylo, according to the ATS agency. Green Raphaël Mahaim has abounded: “The body of the other is never an open bar. Before having a moment of sexual sharing, you must ensure the consent of your partner”.
Many right -wing elected officials have fought the option “Yes, it’s yes”, saying that it would create confusion and would be difficult to apply.
The Swiss antenna of the NGO Amnesty International welcomed Monday’s vote as “an immense success after years of political activism of activists defending women’s rights and victims of sexual violence”.
The two rooms will have to find a compromise before the process can continue. That done, the subject will probably be proposed to the popular vote, as allows the Swiss Direct Democracy system.
Several European countries have changed their definition of rape as being a sexual attack without explicit consent, including Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium.