Does France now allow sex with children?

In France there should now be a law that allows sex with children, provided they consent. How much truth is there behind this claim?

This is the title of the “News for Friends” page:

"France passes law saying children can consent to sex with adults"

The article states that French federal law no longer has a minimum age (that wording is probably due to Google Translate, which News for Friends used for the article), meaning that adults will no longer be prosecuted if the child is not is able to demonstrate “violence, threat, coercion or surprise”.
The so-called “Schiappa Law”, named after Marlène Schiappa, State Secretary for Equality between Women and Men, is directed against sexual and gender-based violence. However, what is missing from the law, and this is also being discussed in France , is the absence of the minimum age in this law.
Now it is concluded that sex with children is legal, even permitted by this law.

For those in a hurry:

A Consideration of French Laws

In most countries, the so-called age of consent is enshrined in law. This means that children under a certain age are not able to consciously consent or refuse sexual acts, so it is considered rape in any case. Sexual acts with children above the age of consent are still punishable and are therefore considered rape, but are treated differently legally.

In fact, that age of consent does not exist in French law. However, there has never been one. What “News for Friends” and its source, the fake news slinger “Your News Wire” fail to mention is that France has other laws that protect children from sexual abuse!

Article 222-22 of the French Penal Code defines the term “rape” as “sexual assault with force, coercion, threat or surprise”.
Article 222-24 of the French Penal Code states that the rape of a child under 15 is considered aggravated rape and is punishable by 20 years in prison.
In addition, the law summary 2010-121 goes into a little more detail about the definitions of incest and rape, for example when moral coercion is exerted on the underage victim by an older relative or carer. In such cases the penalty can be doubled.

There have been many cases before French courts dealing with such incidents, which means there are many precedents. This resulted in a natural definition of the terms rape and coercion in French courts. Sexual relationships between an adult and a child are considered inherently exploitative, even expanding the term “coercion” to the effect that the age difference between adult and child alone already constitutes non-physical coercion, which is a partial term of rape in French law .

But what was missing, and that's why people are getting upset, is a clear definition of age.
This is what child protection associations in France demanded and what they hoped the new law would achieve. These demands are also entirely justified, as there have been several verdicts in the past that have led to outrage: A 30-year-old man who had sexual intercourse with an 11-year-old girl was acquitted because the public prosecutor could not prove that the child was forced or threatened or violence was used.
That's why hope arose in November 2017 that the new law would clearly define age, as was promised.

So what does the new law bring?

The new law adds a paragraph to the above-mentioned Article 222-22, which states that sexual acts on a child under the age of 15 are to be considered moral compulsion, since children below this age usually do not have the judgment or understanding for such things actions.

Penalties for “sexual violations” will also be increased, including sexual acts on children under 15 years of age where no moral or physical coercion (as in the case mentioned above) can be proven. These now amount to 7 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros.

This also extended the statute of limitations, which is now 30 instead of 20 years after the child turns 18.

So now (as before) there is an age definition of 15 years, but no direct “age of consent”, which led to the protests mentioned above.

So does the new law now allow sex with children?

No! There has never been a law in France with a defined age of consent. However, the new law expands and tightens the existing laws against sexual abuse of children.

The new law is only causing a stir because of one point: that the promised age of consent is not defined. But that does n't that, as tabloids and copy-paste writers like News for Friends claim, sex between children and adults is suddenly legal. Instead, the existing laws were expanded and tightened.