France Moves to Criminalize Incest and Extend Time for Victims to Report

A new bill in the French Senate aims to establish incest as a specific crime for the first time. Children's rights groups have welcomed the proposed law, which they have sought for many years. Currently, the term "incest" is not formally defined in French criminal law. Iris Ané of the organization Face à l'Inceste confirmed to FRANCE 24 that the word has been "completely absent from French law for centuries." The legislation would also remove the statute of limitations for sexual crimes against minors. This change would allow victims to report the abuse many years later. A recent Ipsos poll shows 90% of French citizens support this measure. Ané explained the importance of this extension, noting that "50 percent of victims of incest suffer from dissociative amnesia." This often prevents them from recalling or reporting the abuse within a standard legal timeframe.