In an atmosphere of tension, the bill was discussed and voted in the French Parliament, which provides for the introduction of life imprisonment for serial rapists of minors under the age of 15.
French lawmakers on Tuesday approved the introduction of life imprisonment for serial rapists of minors under the age of 15 (pictured by Reuters/Abdul Saboor, top, the result of the vote in the French parliament).
This bill, tabled by the government in the wake of the Liana case, was eventually passed by 258 votes to 84.
The bill was tabled in the wake of Liana, 11, who was found dead in south-west France
Liana, aged 11, was found dead in early June in south-west France.
The mother of another child filed a rape complaint against the accused in August 2025, without him being questioned.
She had accused him of raping her “about 50 times”.
The left had rejected the text on Friday, complaining that it included a repressive provision intended to cover up the inadequacy of resources available for both investigations and prevention of sexual violence.
The debate on the measure was held again yesterday in a particularly tense atmosphere.
The far-right once again defended “the consistency of the penalty scale”, stressing that the measure was not requested by victims’ associations and denouncing it as a “smoke screen”.
“Juggling”
Socialist Florence Erwin Lette pointed out:
“Rather than another juggling act with a high risk of unconstitutionality, perhaps you could admit that what our justice system and investigative agencies need to protect victims and end impunity is additional resources”?
He also underlined that only 3% of perpetrators of sexual violence are convicted and that this percentage drops to 1% in cases of incest.
Defenders of the measure reject any notion of “criminal bidding”: “For us, it’s about imposing sanctions on what we consider to be the (…) most serious crime,” argued Emilie Bonivar (Republicans, right).
“Your priority is to prepare the release of sexual predators, ours is to guarantee that no child will ever find their way again,” said Sophie Blanc, MP for the National Alert (far right), addressing the left.
This new vote was held before the entire child protection bill was voted on.
Source: RES
Source: In
