EU law on violence against women causes disappointment

The EU has agreed on a common law to protect women from sexual violence – a milestone, but the joy is clouded because the topic of rape was left out.

The law is considered a milestone – it is the first in the EU to combat sexual violence against women. But it comes with a big blank space. The responsible rapporteur from the conservative EPP group, Frances Fitzgerald, made no secret of her disappointment: “It has not been possible to achieve a qualified majority in the Council – and to achieve uniform EU standards for the crime of rape – that is extraordinary disappointing.”

Because that doesn’t just mean that an agreement on the consent approach “Only yes means yes” has failed in the first place. It has also not been possible to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted for rape across the EU, even if they have not hit the victim or specifically threatened them. In 18 of 27 member states there is currently only talk of a crime.

Legal concerns blocked approval

So where else should a protective law start, says SPD European politician Maria Noichl. A legislative package on violence against women must include the area of ​​rape. Rape is one of the harshest forms of violence against women, explains Noichl. “It’s inexplicable to me that you think you could send the package without mentioning rape.”

But that’s how it will be now – also because of the resistance from Germany. The principle: “No means no” has been in effect here since 2016. However, together with France, for example, they argue that such a Europe-wide harmonization goes beyond the EU’s competences and that the law is therefore vulnerable in European courts.

Yes, we heard a lot of arguments, said EPP politician Fitzgerald: “I think the core of their resistance was the conviction that criminal law should be left to the member states. But you also have to say that legally it’s not that clear.” 13 member states were also supporters of this law.

But overall a process has started. And it was possible to negotiate a passage into the legal text in the last few meters, emphasizes Fitzgerald. “We now have Article 36 – which is very important. It places an obligation on member states to do much more work to raise awareness of what consent means in relation to rape – from a prevention perspective .”

Review should bring further improvements

A first step, she hopes. And the second one has already been roughly scheduled: after a good three years there will be a review, so the open questions will be asked again. SPD European politician Noichl is also hoping for this: “Then the law will be reopened. The aim must be to negotiate in a few years what we failed to do this time – namely to secure minimum standards.”

By then, the law should set EU-wide standards for the first time when dealing with digital violence against women. This includes cyberstalking, i.e. following and harassing people online. Or the distribution of deepfakes, the montage of images into pornographic scenes without the consent of the person concerned. Here too, regular updates to the law are likely to be worthwhile – especially with a view to artificial intelligence.