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Sexual intercourse without consent will now be considered rape, not just coercion. The amendments to the criminal code agreed by the Senate will bring a stricter definition based on the principle of “no means no”. The bill, which was supported by 63 of the 68 MPs present in the upper house, will now be signed by the president.
The amendment also regulates how sexual acts with children under 12 are viewed. The courts should always treat them as rape or sexual assault, rather than the lesser criminal offence of sexual abuse. “Children under twelve years of age are not affected,” Justice Minister Pavel Blazek (ODS) summed up the amendment.
According to the amendment, the victim does not have to express his or her disagreement only verbally; a gesture, crying or taking a defensive posture is sufficient. The proposal also takes into account the defenseless situation of the victim when he or she is unable to express or shape his or her will due to some objective reasons, such as illness, sleep, mental disorder, severe drunkenness, handcuffs and disability.
Rape will now include only sexual intercourse and other penetrative acts. Less serious sexual acts will be included in a new separate sexual assault offence in the Penal Code.
Under the amendment, the use of weapons will result in higher penalties for sexual assault and rape. Similar to failure to prevent sexual abuse, sexual coercion should be among the acts punishable for failure to prevent. The actual nature of sexual coercion extends to taking advantage of someone’s pain.
12,000 victims per year
Advocate and senator Daniela Kovářová (independent) questioned the effectiveness of the amendment, according to which the change in the definition will not prevent rape. On the other hand, Miluše Horská of the KDU-ČSL club said that the amendment gave her satisfaction that efforts were being made to improve the position of victims. The senator said that non-profit organizations that work with rape victims were responsible for the amendment. Horská said that it is also necessary to work with perpetrators of violence.
Johanna Nejedlová, director of Konsent, a nonprofit organization that works to prevent sexual harassment and violence, considers the passage of the amendment a success.
“Of course, I am very happy about this, especially because there are 12,000 victims of rape in our country every year. From now on, they will have a better defense in court and a better chance of justly punishing the perpetrators,” said Needlova.
In recent years, 16 European countries have changed their definition of rape. The concept of “yes means yes” was adopted in Malta, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Spain or Slovenia. The concept of “no means no” was applied in Latvia, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany or Sweden. France and Austria stick to the definition of rape based on violence or threats.
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