About half of all women in the European Union have experienced sexual harassment at least once since age 15, the European Council says. In response, the EU has launched measures to better protect women and girls from sexual violence: it acceded to the Istanbul Convention on October 1, 2023, and in 2024 adopted a directive criminalizing workplace sexual harassment, cyberstalking, and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.
The EU Gender Equality Strategy targets cyberviolence, deepfakes and digital violence against women. European countries also fund prevention and victim-protection projects worth hundreds of millions of euros annually.
A cross-party initiative in the European Parliament sought to push the European Commission to redefine rape across the EU. The legislative aim is to create a uniform, EU-wide rule that makes sexual offences hinge on consent: “only ‘yes’ truly means ‘yes’ and that all rape laws in the EU are based on the principle of consent,” said Swedish MEP Evin Incir, one of the initiative’s initiators. Incir added the decisive factor should be “the absence of consent” and “not the fact that women have to fight back or show bruises to prove they said ‘no!'” The proposal also calls for alignment with international standards and stronger victim support, including access to justice, specialized services and healthcare.
On April 28, 2026, the European Parliament approved the initiative by 447 to 160 votes.
Current criminal definitions of rape vary widely across EU member states. Broadly, legal approaches fall into three categories:
– Force-based models, where rape requires the use or threat of physical force.
– “No means no” models, where rape is defined by the victim’s recognizable refusal; this applies in countries including Germany, Austria and Poland.
– “Only yes means yes” models, where any sexual act without explicit, voluntary consent is rape. Sweden first introduced this model in 2018; it is also in force in Belgium, Denmark, Croatia, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands. France adopted the model in November 2025 after the high-profile Gisele Pelicot case; the Czech Republic is discussing similar legislation.
Prosecution and conviction rates for rape remain extremely low. Many offences go unreported, trials often hinge on competing testimony, and clear evidence can be hard to establish. Some estimates suggest only a low single-digit percentage of rapists in Europe are convicted. In Sweden, after introducing “only yes means yes” and a related offence of “grossly negligent rape”—which allows conviction if a perpetrator failed to ensure their partner’s voluntary participation—convictions rose significantly. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International view the shift to a consent-based standard as an important step and a driver of social change, though proving cases in court remains difficult and overall conviction rates stay low.
A similar Europe-wide proposal failed in 2024, partly because France and Germany raised legal concerns about EU competence: rape is not explicitly listed in EU treaties as a cross-border criminal offence, and criminal law is seen as a core area of national sovereignty. There were fears a directive could be struck down by the Court of Justice. Since 2024 positions have shifted: France changed its stance and Italy is working on corresponding national legislation, contributing to renewed momentum for an EU-wide consent-based definition.
This article was originally published in German.