Skip to content
SPRÁVA (2025/2040(INI))

O význame právnych predpisov o trestnom čine znásilnenia založených na súhlase v EÚ

A-10-2026-0047

Výbor pre občianske slobody, spravodlivosť a vnútorné veci Výbor pre práva žien a rodovú rovnosť · Rapporteur: Evin Incir, Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull text
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 4 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

A resolution on the importance of consent-based rape legislation in the EU calls on the Commission to propose an EU-wide definition of rape based on freely given, informed, withdrawable consent, and urges Member States to align national laws with this standard. It stresses that consent must be affirmative and cannot be inferred from silence, lack of resistance, or past conduct, and that trauma responses like freezing do not imply consent. It calls for support services, training for professionals, educational measures, and data collection to prevent sexual violence and ensure access to justice for survivors.

Key points

  1. Calls on the Commission to propose legislation defining rape based on lack of freely given, informed, withdrawable consent, in line with the Istanbul Convention.
  2. Urges Member States with force-based definitions to reform their laws and ratify the Istanbul Convention.
  3. Reiterates that consent-based legislation is an international standard and the only adequate framework for access to justice.
  4. Calls on the Commission to propose a Council decision identifying gender-based violence as a new EU crime area under Article 83(1) TFEU.
  5. Stresses that only affirmative, freely given consent is valid; silence, lack of resistance, or past conduct do not imply consent, and consent can be withdrawn.
  6. Underlines that consent cannot exist in contexts of violence, threat, coercion, intoxication, disability, or other vulnerabilities.
  7. Emphasizes that trauma responses like tonic immobility or 'freezing' must be recognized in law and judicial practice.
  8. Calls for an intersectional approach and application of consent-based legislation to digital and virtual environments.
  9. Calls for access to medical care, crisis centres, legal support, and reparation for survivors, and for training of professionals.
  10. Calls for EU guidelines on consent-based sexuality education, awareness campaigns, and monitoring of Member States' implementation.
  11. Invites Member States to extend limitation periods for rape offences and ensure data collection on rape.
  12. Supports civil society and calls for funding and partnerships to combat sexual violence.

Who is affected

  • EU Member States, which must reform national rape laws, ratify the Istanbul Convention, and provide support services.
  • Survivors of rape, who would benefit from consent-based definitions and improved access to justice and support.
  • Law enforcement, judiciary, and healthcare professionals, who are called to receive training.
  • Civil society organizations and women's specialist services, which are called to receive funding.

Figures and deadlines

  • 17.2 % of women in the EU have experienced sexual violence; 1 in 20 women has been raped since age 15.
  • Annual estimated cost of gender-based violence in the EU is EUR 366 billion.
  • Five Member States have yet to ratify the Istanbul Convention.
  • 16 Member States have amended legislation to incorporate consent since the Istanbul Convention's entry into force.
  • 70 % of victims of sexual violence reported tonic immobility in a Swedish study.

Legal basis: Article 2 and Article 3(2) and (3) TEU; Articles 8, 10, 19, 82(2), 83(1) TFEU