In France, rape is illegal, and marital rape is also illegal. In recent years there has been increase of reported

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

cases in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Studies

Rape has been documented across French history.

Georges Vigarello Georges Vigarello (born 16 June 1941) is a French historian and sociologist. He is a Research Director at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) of Paris. His main research interests include the sociology of the body, the histo ...

in his 2001 book writes about the history of rape in France, highlighting events from 16th to 20th century. He states that rape has historically been seen as a form of violence, but not punished as such.

Statistics

In 1971, the rate of declared rapes stood at 2.0 per 100,000 people. In 1995, it was 12.5. In 2009, it stood at 16.2. According to a 2012 report, about 75,000 rapes take place each year. In 2012, there were 1,293 reported rapes in a population of 66 million, and 1,188 rapes in 2013 in a population of 66 million. In 2015, rape rate for France was 20.1 cases per 100,000 population. Rape rate of France increased from 15.9 cases per 100,000 population in 2006 to 20.1 cases per 100,000 population in 2015 growing at an average annual rate of 2.72%.

Gang rape

According to a 2014 report, about 5,000 to 7,000 of the rapes are

gang rape Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A Multidisciplinary Re ...

s. Gang-rapes are referred to as ''tournantes'', or "pass-arounds". One of the first people to bring public attention to the culture of gang rape was

Samira Bellil Samira Bellil (24 November 1972 – 4 September 2004) was a French feminist activist and a campaigner for the rights of girls and women. Bellil became famous in France with the publication of her autobiographical book ''Dans l'enfer des tournantes ...

, who published a book called ''

Dans l'enfer des tournantes ''Dans l'enfer des tournantes'' (''In the Hell of the Tournantes'') is a book by French activist Samira Bellil. The book focuses on life in the ''banlieues'', where Bellil says that she and countless other young girls have been victims of organiz ...

'' ("In Gang Rape Hell").

Notable offenders

Gilles de Rais Gilles de Rais (c. 1405 – 26 October 1440), Baron de Rais (), was a knight and lord from Brittany, Anjou and Poitou, a leader in the French army, and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known for his reputation and later convi ...

(1404–1440) - Convicted of rape, murder and torture, he was executed. * Pierre Chanal (1946–2003) - French soldier, convicted of rape and kidnapping, he received a ten-year jail sentence. * Émile Louis (1934–2013) - Sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004. *

Michel Fourniret Michel Paul Fourniret (4 April 1942 – 10 May 2021) was a French serial killer who confessed to killing 12 people in France and Belgium between 1987 and 2003. After he was arrested in June 2003 for the attempted kidnapping of a teenage girl in ...

(1942–2021) - Convicted in 1987 for rape, and assault of minors. *

Joseph Vacher Joseph Vacher (16 November 1869 – 31 December 1898) was a French serial killer and necrophile, sometimes known as "The French Ripper" or "L'éventreur du Sud-Est" ("The South-East Ripper") owing to comparisons to the more famous Jack the Rip ...

(1869–1898) - Convicted of murder, rape. Executed in December 1898. *

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...

(1933–) - Actor, convicted of raping a 13-year-old. *

Guy Georges Guy Georges (born Guy Rampillon; 15 October 1962) is a French serial killer and serial rapist, dubbed ''le tueur de l'Est Parisien'' (the East Paris killer) or The Beast of the Bastille. He was convicted on April 5, 2001 of murdering seven women ...

(1962–) - Raped and murdered about seven women. Sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001.

References

{{Reflist

Crimes against women

Studies

Statistics

Gang rape

Notable offenders

See also

Further reading

References