EU Member States continue to debate a European Commission March 2022 recommendation to unify rules across the EU to criminalize a range of violence-against-women offenses, including rape, cyber violence and female genital mutilation. In June 2023, countries already struck down the commission's proposed Article 5 that would have made any non-consensual sexual act a criminal offense. The issue of rape based on non-consent remains unresolved among the Member States.although international standards, including the Istanbul Convention, use the basis of non-consent in their definitions of rape and sexual violence. For more information, see the Joint Statement by WAVE and feminist Spanish organizations on the proposed EU Directive.
Compiled from: Giedre Peseckyte, "EU countries divided over the inclusion of rape in violence against women directive," EURACTIV, Nov. 14, 2023.