A sweeping package of reforms, passed unanimously by the lower house of parliament this week, aims to overhaul how France investigates and prosecutes sexual violence. Yet campaigners say the legislation does not do enough to prevent abuse, while protection for some of the most vulnerable victims is lacking.
The so-called comprehensive bill against sexual and gender-based violence, adopted by the National Assembly on Tuesday, is now headed for a vote in the French Senate.
Legislators have been under pressure to act since the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl exposed shortcomings in France's justice system.
The victim went missing in south-west France at the end of May. The man suspected of killing her had previously faced several complaints of sexual violence against underage girls, but those investigations stalled or were dropped.
The case prompted weekly demonstrations outside the Justice Ministry and pushed reform back on to the government's agenda.
Legislation first proposed at the end of last year was prioritised for debate when parliament resumed after the summer. Modelled on Spain's pioneering 2004 law on gender-based violence, it aims to coordinate prevention, investigation, prosecution and victim protection in one joined-up approach.
"It is the first time we are getting a comprehensive response to the issue of gender-based and sexual violence in this country, notably with measures that will finally adapt the justice system to the specific nature of this violence," said Laura Slimani, project director at the Fondation des Femmes, a women's group that has been campaigning for reform for several years.
French National Assembly moves to overhaul response to sexual violence and abuse
Steps forward
Many of the bill's provisions were taken directly from campaigners, and activists hailed them as a historic step forward.
If it becomes law, investigating and prosecuting sexual and domestic violence will be put in the hands of people who specialise in such cases, with courts required to have at least two expert judges and prosecutors, and police ordered to create specially trained units.
Officers would also have to carry out a minimum set of investigative steps within a year to reduce the risk of complaints being dropped without proper investigation.
"At present, a huge number of complaints are dismissed because the offences aren't sufficiently substantiated," Slimani told RFI. "But very often we learn that there hasn't been an investigation: the suspect hasn't been interviewed, nor have their relatives, their phone and computer haven't been searched... All of this will now be mandatory."
Other proposals welcomed by feminist organisations and child protection advocates include barring police from investigating a victim's sexual history, widening the legal definition of incest to include sexual relations between first cousins, and recognising economic abuse as a form of domestic violence.
France’s ongoing struggle to protect child victims of domestic violence
Vulnerable groups overlooked
But some organisations working with victims say the bill fails vulnerable groups.
"Women with disabilities, foreign women and LGBTI people – all of whom are highly vulnerable to violence – are largely overlooked in this text," organisations including Médecins du Monde and Inter LGBT said in a joint statement last month, accusing lawmakers of rushing through the bill without consulting a diverse range of stakeholders.
The proposed text had included measures to protect foreign victims of sexual violence, notably prohibiting authorities from ordering a victim who had filed a complaint to leave France – for example, if they are undocumented or if their residence permit was obtained through the partner they allege is their abuser – and guaranteeing such victims a two-year residency permit with the right to work.
But MPs on both the right and the centre pushed to remove these, with the Minister for Gender Equality, Aurore Bergé, saying they risked being exploited by people "who we should be able to send back home".
Cimade, a French charity that works with migrants, says victims of violence often find themselves forced to choose between staying with their abuser or losing their immigration status.
"Nearly 70 percent of women Cimade assists at its specialist support centres lose their residence permits when they leave an abusive partner because their right to stay is tied to the relationship," the organisation said in a statement.
Migrant women in France face ‘double violence’ when reporting sexual abuse
Punishment or prevention
Other activists question the premise of the bill itself.
"This bill does nothing to tackle the root causes of gender-based violence," said Emmanuelle, a member of the #NousToutes feminist collective.
She told RFI the bill focused heavily on criminal penalties, with few measures aimed at preventing violence. "The main tool is, first and foremost, education on emotional, relational and sexual matters for all children."
While at least three comprehensive sexuality education sessions a year have been mandatory in French schools since 2025, schools do not have the resources to implement the programme in full, she said.
"As far as we're concerned, legislation is not the right solution. We should start by applying the legislation we have by providing the resources necessary."
The activist pointed to multiplying closures of branches of Planning Familial, the French family planning organisation. "Their staff and volunteers are the ones who deliver emotional wellbeing education sessions in schools. They are the ones who train professionals in the police, the justice system and hospitals."
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It remains unclear what funding will be allocated to enact the planned reforms. Implementing the bill fully has been estimated to cost at least €3 billion on top of current spending.
Writing in Le Monde, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu promised the government would propose "an initial allocation of nearly €1.5 billion to combat gender-based and sexual violence", as well as €2.6 billion earmarked for child protection.
However, his office subsequently told the newspaper that the figures did not represent additional funding, but the total already allocated.
This article was partially adapted from this story by RFI's French service by Amélie Beaucour.