Activists call on France to endorse a consent-based rape definition across the entire European Union

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Activists wearing masks depicting President Emmanuel Macron urged France on Thursday to change its position and endorse a law proposed by the European Union that would define rape as sex without consent in the bloc's 27 countries. “While we recognize that France aims to protect women’s rights and combat violence against women and girls, at present it regrettably remains in the company of member states including Poland and Hungary and lags behind member states such as Spain, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and Greece in amending its criminal law,” the letter says. “This is an opportunity for France to not only take the necessary steps toward meeting its own international human rights obligations, but to lead the entire EU forward in its fight to combat violence against women and girls.” Some EU countries have also argued that the issue of rape is a matter of criminal law, and therefore falls within the competence of member countries, not the EU. “It is the only way to guarantee that all EU countries put into their national law that sex without consent is rape, and that all European women are equally protected,” the Socialists and Democrats group said in a statement.