Overview

• The European Court of Human Rights found France in violation of human rights protections for three teenage rape victims aged 13, 14, and 16.
• The court criticized French authorities for failing to properly evaluate the victims' capacity to consent, given their young age and vulnerability.
• Investigations in two of the cases were deemed neither prompt nor diligent, and none of the accused perpetrators were held accountable.
• The ruling highlighted violations of European Convention articles prohibiting torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, and ensuring respect for private life.
• The decision intensifies calls for France to adopt a consent-based legal definition of rape, which it has yet to implement despite setting the age of consent at 15.