According to the , almost half of women in the European Union have been victims of sexual harassment at least once since their 15th birthday. European Union.
In response, the EU has introduced a number of measures to better protect women and girls from sexual harassment. On October 1, 2023, the Istanbul Convention was adopted as the world’s most comprehensive set of rules to combat gender-based violence. In 2024, the bloc adopted a directive that criminalizes sexual harassment in the workplace, cyberstalking and non-consensual distribution of intimate images throughout the EU.
The new EU gender equality strategy specifically targets cyberviolence, deepfakes and digital violence against women. European countries invest hundreds of millions of euros annually in projects focused on violence prevention and victim protection.
Cross-party initiative in the European Parliament
However, when it comes to defining what exactly constitutes rape under criminal law, the 27 EU member states have been unable to reach consensus for decades. A cross-party initiative in the European Parliament aimed at pushing to redefine the European Commission legal framework For this.
“The aim of this legislative initiative is to create a uniform EU-wide regulation that ensures that in sexual relations, the only ‘yes’ truly means ‘yes’ and that all rape laws in the EU are based on the principle of consent,” Evin Inkyr, a member of the European Parliament representing the Swedish Social Democratic Party and one of the initiators of the latest initiative, told DW.
Incir went on to say that the decisive factor in the future should be “the lack of consent”, not “the fact that women will have to fight or show bruises to prove that they said ‘no’!”
The document also calls for consistency with international standards and stronger support for victims in all member states, including access to justice, specialized services and health care.
It was approved in the European Parliament on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, by an overwhelming majority of 447 to 160 votes.
Criminal law differences within the European Union
Until now, criminal law definitions of what is considered rape vary considerably across Europe.
Their legal models can be broadly divided into three categories. In many European Union countries, an act is only considered rape if the perpetrator uses or threatens to use physical force. In other countries, including Germany, Austria and Poland, the so-called “no means no” model applies: rape is considered a crime if the act is committed against the victim’s recognizable will, meaning they actively refuse to consent.
On the other hand, the “yes only means yes” model means that any sexual intercourse without explicit, voluntary consent is defined as rape. This model was first introduced in Sweden but is also effective in many other EU countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Croatia, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands. France joined in November 2025 in the wake of the Gisele Pellicot case, which shocked the country. Currently, discussion on bringing this law is going on in the Czech Republic also.
Sweden is a leader in enacting laws to prevent rape
The prosecution rate in rape cases remains extremely low. Only a fraction of rape crimes are reported, and trials often pit one person’s word against another’s. Also, clear evidence of rape is difficult to establish. Some estimates suggest that across Europe, only a single digit percentage of actual rapists are actually convicted.
In Sweden, an EU country that implemented a “yes means yes” rule in 2018, the number of convicted rapists has increased significantly. This is probably also due to Stockholm simultaneously introducing the criminal offense of “rape with gross negligence”. Under this provision, offenders can now be convicted if they have not previously ascertained that their partner is willingly participating in the sexual act.
Nevertheless, rape cases remain difficult to prove in court, and the overall conviction rate is low. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International consider the change to the “yes means yes” rule to be an important step forward, also in terms of social change.
More European nations adopt similar rape laws
The “yes only means yes” rule was proposed for the second time as a Europe-wide standard. An earlier initiative failed in 2024 – partly due to obstruction by France and Germany in the European Council. The issue was less about an actual rejection of the consensus principle and more about formal legal concerns.
Because EU treaties do not explicitly list rape as a criminal offense with a cross-border dimension, countries have argued that the EU does not have the authority to establish a Europe-wide definition. Criminal law is considered one of the key areas of national sovereignty.
Germany and France expressed fears that the European Commission would overstep its authority and that the relevant directive could be overturned by the European Court of Justice.
“A lot has happened since 2024, when we first called for legislation on persistent rape,” Swedish MEP Evin Inkyr told DW. He highlighted that not only has France changed its position at the national level, but Italy is also currently working on similar legislation.
This article was originally published in German.