Overview
- The European Parliament’s civil liberties committee approved a report urging an EU-wide rape definition based on absence of consent, passing 75–27 with 3 abstentions and backed by the EPP, which argued absence of resistance is not consent.
- The report urges states still requiring proof of force or threat to align with international standards, calls for 24/7 crisis centers and specialized free services with training, and seeks EU sexual-education guidelines in 2026.
- The text now goes to a full European Parliament vote in Brussels on 25–26 March.
- In Italy, PD, M5S, Italia Viva and Avs moved to oppose giving the Bongiorno bill a favorable opinion in the Chamber’s Constitutional Affairs Committee.
- Activists from Non una di Meno dumped manure outside Senator Giulia Bongiorno’s Milan office to denounce a proposal critics say substitutes consent with dissent, and they announced marches for 8–9 March in Milan.