Sexual violence: MEPs support ending the statute of limitations for assaults on minors

It's a debate that's sweeping across Europe: EU MPs voted on Tuesday to abolish statutes of limitations in cases of sexual violence against minors . After this overwhelming vote at first reading (599 in favor, 2 against, and 62 abstentions), the European Parliament will have to negotiate with the Member States and the Commission, which intends to extend the statutes of limitations, but without abolishing them.

MEPs wanted to show that they expect a change of tack on this matter. "There can be no delay in justice when it comes to child sexual abuse," insisted Dutch MEP Jeroen Lenaers (EPP, right), who was in charge of the text in Parliament. Currently, limitation periods—the length of time after which legal action is no longer admissible—vary considerably from one European state to another.

Some have abolished statutes of limitations for the relevant offenses. Others have very short statutes of limitations, which expire before the victim reaches the age of 40. In France, only crimes against humanity are subject to a statute of limitations. In criminal justice, the statute of limitations for rape is 30 years from the victim's majority and 20 years from the date of the incident if she was an adult.

Extended prescription in France

Regarding civil justice, a bill by Aurore Bergé , a former MP turned minister, aims to make rape of minors imprescriptible, while the current statute of limitations is 20 years, starting from "consolidation" - the moment when the victim is psychologically stable. But French parliamentarians have so far opposed this. Senators have nevertheless chosen to extend the statute of limitations from 20 to 30 years. This point could still evolve in the continuation of the debates.

In Brussels, the European Union is currently working on two new laws to combat sexual violence against children. The one supported Tuesday aims to combat the creation and dissemination of child pornography using artificial intelligence (AI). An amendment proposed by François-Xavier Bellamy, the EPP's leader, also requires pornography platforms to effectively prevent minors from accessing their content.

The European Union opened an investigation at the end of May into the platforms Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos, suspected of not taking sufficient measures in this area.