France finally decides to make incest illegal

France has created a new law that will finally make incest illegal, as it had previously only been banned for relations involving under-18s.
Even if many French citizens did not know it, incest is currently legal in France for over-18s. The only requirement for incest to be legal is that all participants are legal adults. The Secretary of State for Child Protection, Adrien Taquet, wishes to put an end to this situation and “clearly prohibit this abuse by law”, even if the children are of legal age and have apparently given their “consent”. “It is not a matter of age”, insisted Taquet, adding that “we need to review that threshold of 18” because “one cannot have sexual relations with their father, son or daughter”.
“Incest has to be prohibited. It is not about having consent from people who consider themselves adults,” insisted Taquet, and “the rules must be clear”.
The proposal for new legislation which prevents the systematic abuse of children by their parents, even if they are of legal age, is sure to be controversial and to meet several obstacles.
“There are legal issues that are technically complicated,” admitted the secretary of State, one of which would be “the relationship between an adult and her stepfather”. These matters will be dealt with “very carefully by the Independent Commission for Incest and Sexual Violence against Children,” he explained.
Taquet also stated that unfortunately, associations dedicated to educating people about such topics related to sexual violence “face difficulties getting into schools” because “some school directors resist discussing these issues with children” because they are “scary topics”.
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