A new bill submitted to the French Senate is hoping to make incest a standalone criminal offence – a move that has been long awaited by children’s rights groups. Speaking to FRANCE 24, Iris Ané from the Face à l’inceste organisation highlighted the fact that for centuries, the term of “incest” was “completely absent from French law”. The legislation would also make statutes of limitations non applicable for sexual crimes committed against minors, a change backed by 90 percent of French citizens according to a recent Ipsos poll. Ané says allowing victims to come forward well after the time of the abuse is important, as “50 percent of victims of incest suffer from dissociative amnesia”.
This story originally appeared on France24
Proposed bill to make incest a specific crime in France welcomed by children's groups
